Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said that people from all religions, including Muslims and Christians, can join the organisation, but as members of a unified Hindu society, setting aside religious separateness.
Responding to a question on whether Muslims are allowed in the RSS, Bhagwat said, “No Brahmin is allowed in Sangha. No other caste is allowed in Sangha. No Muslim is allowed, no Christian is allowed in the Sangha… Only Hindus are allowed.”
He, however, clarified that followers of all faiths are welcome to participate as long as they come “as sons of Bharat Mata.”
“So people with different denominations — Muslims, Christians — any denomination, can come to the Sangha but keep your separateness out. Your speciality is welcome. But when you come inside Shakha, you come as a son of Bharat Mata, a member of this Hindu society,” he said.
Bhagwat added that the Sangh does not ask the religion or caste of anyone attending its daily shakhas. “Muslims come to Shakha, Christians come to Shakha, as all other castes from the routinely called Hindu society, they also come to Shakha. But we don’t take their count, and we don’t ask who they are. We are all sons of Bharat Mata. That is how Sangha works,” he said.
His remarks came during an in-house question-and-answer session organised by the RSS, where he also fielded queries on the organisation’s registration status, political leanings, and relationship with other faiths.
In a veiled response to criticism from Congress leaders who questioned the RSS’s registration and sources of funding, Bhagwat said, “RSS was established in 1925, so do you expect us to have registered with the British government?” He added that after Independence, registration was not mandatory.
“We are categorised as a body of individuals, and we are a recognised organisation,” he said, explaining that both the Income Tax department and courts have described the RSS as a “body of individuals,” exempted from income tax.
Referring to past government actions against the Sangh, Bhagwat said, “We were banned thrice. So government has recognised us. If we were not there, whom did they ban?”
He also responded to allegations that the RSS does not respect the national flag, saying the organisation holds the tricolour in high regard. “We always respect, offer tribute and protect our tricolour,” Bhagwat said, while clarifying that saffron, treated as a Guru in RSS tradition, also holds symbolic importance.
Bhagwat reiterated that the Sangh does not support any political party but backs policies it believes are in the national interest. “We do not participate in vote politics, current politics, election politics, etc. Sangh’s work is uniting the society and politics, by nature, is divisive, so we keep out of politics,” he said.
On India’s relations with Pakistan, the RSS chief said peace is possible only if the neighbouring country stops attempts to harm India. “It is Pakistan which doesn’t want peace with us. As long as it gets satisfaction from causing harm to Bharat, it will keep on doing it,” he said, warning that if Pakistan continued on that path, it “will learn a lesson one day,” recalling the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Addressing social issues, Bhagwat said casteism no longer exists but “caste confusion” does, driven by electoral politics and concessions. “There is no need to eradicate caste; there is need to forget caste,” he said.
On the issue of so-called ‘love jihad,’ Bhagwat urged people not to focus excessively on what others do but to strengthen “Hindu samskara” (values) within their own homes.
– Ends
(With inputs from PTI)
