NEW DELHI: After concerns over increasing “demographic imbalance”, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is on a mission to reach out to the Muslim community.
The RSS-affiliated organisation for the minorities, Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), plans to bring thousands of Muslim intellectuals and leaders working at the grassroot level on a national platform to discuss issues which concern the country. MRM, which completes 13 years of its existence this month, will also carry out a campaign emphasising the need for increasing formal education in the Muslim community.
The two programmes to be launched early next year will involve a series of national and regional conferences where Muslim leaders and/or influential peopleactive at the grassroot level will be selected to discuss issues such as terrorism, education, family planning and employment.
“We intend to hold two big conferences for Muslim intellectuals in February 2016. One of the conferences will be held in north India and other in the south. To ensure that leaders who matter at village levels are chosen, we have asked our district cells to recommend 25 names each per district, and 50 names from Muslim-dominated districts,” MRM’s national convenor Girish Juyal told The Sunday Standard. MRM has a presence in 356 districts across the 28 states.
Last week, the MRM held a first-ever conference for women in Ajmer where a resolution on issues such as family planning and divorce was adopted. RSS leader Indresh is the current patron of MRM as it works to bring the “nationalistic discourse” to the community.
MRM says it’s important for the community to have formal education, and not just rely on madrasas. It will rope in NGOs to stress the need of formal school education. It will also organise four regional conferences on this issue next year in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Kashmir.
“Aadhi roti khayenge, bachon ko zaroor padhayyenge; dini taleem ke saath saath, duniyavi taleem wi dilwahenge” (Will eat half a roti, but will definitely educate our children; not just religious education, but even a formal education) are some of the catchy slogans coined as part of the education campaign.
While RSS has raised concerns over the demographic imbalance and called for a national population policy, it feels it was necessary to engage with the community to prevent radicalisation.
While MRM works to “bridge the widening gap between Hindus and Muslims”, it is also active in minority-dominated areas during polls. The organisation also runs a weekly programme on a private Urdu TV channel to address issues related to the community.