NEW DELHI: Signalling a willingness to adapt to changing social trends and openness to all faiths, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday argued that the Saffron umbrella organisation isn’t bound to any ideology or ism.
Speaking at the launch of the book ‘The RSS-Roadmaps for 21st century’ authored by senior functionary of the outfit Sunil Ambekar, be made a veiled reference to gay marriages with instances from Mahabharata and Maratha empire to stress that such persons too have a place in the society and the RSS stand on them would evolve through consensus.
Bhagwat, incidentally, has been engaging diverse audiences in the past years, in an attempt to steer the RSS- largely seen as the flag bearer of hard Hindutva- as an outfit with an inclusive outlook. Articulating the RSS’ worldview, he stressed that all people who may abide by different faiths belong here, if they accept the country as their own and practice respect for India’s culture .
“For us, they all are Hindus. Even if they may not say so, they should commit to the betterment of the country,” noted Bhagwat.
Arguing that there’s no fixed ideology and thoughts and world view can change with time, Bhagwat argued that everything can change except for the abiding belief in “Hindu rashtra”.
“The soul of the country is Hindu, while the exterior could be diverse. Unity in diversity remains the virtue,” he added. Bhagwat’s outreach to remove “prevalent misconception,” incidentally, comes at a time when its political offshoot BJP has gained unprecedented electoral mandate.
In the past few months, Bhagwat has been willing to speak more often.