New Delhi: The idea of minority within the Indian Constitution must be revisited, mentioned Dattatreya Hosabale, who was re-elected because the sarkaryavah, or General Secretary, of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) throughout an annual assembly of its apex decision-making physique in Nagpur Sunday.
Speaking to the media following the assembly of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the RSS chief additionally defended the Modi authorities over the electoral bond scheme, calling it an “an experiment”, and mentioned that such experiments are required. He cited the introduction of digital voting machines (EVMs) as one such occasion and mentioned that questions had been raised about these too.
“People may have such questions in their mind, but time will tell how beneficial and effective the new system is. So, we should allow such experiments to take place. That is the Sangh’s view,” he mentioned.
During the press convention, Hosabale mentioned, “We need to reconsider (punarvichar) the concept of minority (alpasankhyak) as it exists in the Indian Constitution. Because when we say minority, the country is seen as separate… then who does the country belong to? It’s everyone’s.”
Since its inception in 1925, the RSS has held that it doesn’t matter what faith one might comply with in India, nobody must be seen from the prism of “majority” or “minority”.
“In India, Muslims and Christians are generally considered minorities. Since the time of Guru Golwalkar ji, all sarsanghchalaks have tried to have a dialogue with them. Within RSS, too, we have workers from these communities, but we don’t want to display them as show pieces,” he added.
According to Hosabale, RSS considers everybody as Hindus based mostly on their nationality, although they is perhaps following a unique faith. “Even those who don’t consider themselves as Hindus, we have a dialogue with them. When Manmohan Vaidyaji said that minorities are coming closer to the Sangh, he meant Muslims and Christians. Sangh has always protested minority politics. We have had interactions with Christians in Kerala as well as Muslims in Maharashtra,” he mentioned.
On the difficulty of electoral bonds, he says, “We have not thought much about this issue. In the meetings, too, we have not discussed it because electoral bonds are an experiment. Such experiments happen and the kinds of checks and balances that are required can be done,” he added.
The RSS additionally highlighted the latest problems with unrest in states like Manipur, Haryana and Rajasthan.
“In Mewat area, where a section of the Muslim community violently attacked the VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) yatra and helped spread violence, social tensions prevailed for months and the issue is still not settled. Situation in Manipur has created mistrust between the two sections of the society — Meitei and Kuki — causing deep wounds. It is unfortunate that the border state is undergoing a deep, inexplicable pain and the psychological division of society is dangerous,” mentioned the annual report of the RSS, additionally launched Sunday.
It added that “separatist terrorism” in Punjab has resurfaced months earlier than the Lok Sabha elections beneath the “pretext of farmers agitation”.
“In Mewat and Manipur, Sangh karyakartas, on the basis of their communication with relevant people, have tried to save the situation, strengthen the society by morale boosting and create an atmosphere of mutual cooperation and coexistence. The separatist terrorism in Punjab has raised its ugly head again. Under the pretext of farmers’ agitation, especially in Punjab, attempts have been restarted to spread anarchy, just two months before the Lok Sabha elections,” it mentioned.
It additional alleged, “The forces that are inimical to anything that is Bharat, Hindutva or Sangh, are ever-active in search of newer plans and designs to disrupt or denigrate these three. The frequent rising of [issues] such as ‘Sanatana Dharma is the cause for all ills of our nation’, or the separatist issue of cutting south, or the play of politics in the sensitive matter of caste census — all these are aimed at disunity of the nation through distorted narratives,” it added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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