New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said the alleged derogatory statements made at the functions of Dharma Sansad do not represent Hindu ideology.
Expressing dismay at what was said at the Dharma Sansad events, Bhagwat said, “Whatever emerged in the Dharma Sansad events, it is not a Hindu word.”
The RSS chief’s remarks came when he was addressing a lecture ‘Hinduism and National Integration’ organized on the occasion of Golden Jubilee celebrations of a newspaper in Nagpur.
Bhagwat said, “Hindutva is not an ‘ism’, the English translation of Hindutva is Hindutva. It was first mentioned by Guru Nanak Dev, it is not mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharata, Hindu does not mean a limited thing, it dynamic that changes continuously with experience.”
He further said that the statements made out of personal gain or enmity do not represent Hindutva. “The RSS or those who really follow Hindutva do not believe in its misinterpretation. Balance, discretion, affinity for all represents Hindutva,” he said.
Notably, the incidents of Dharma Sansad in Haridwar and Delhi sparked controversy due to alleged provocative speeches made by religious leaders. The provocative speeches allegedly inciting violence against the minority community were made by Yeti Narasimhanand in Haridwar and ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’ in Delhi between December 17 and 19, 2021.
Another such event held in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur on December 26 also sparked a controversy when Hindu cleric Kalicharan Maharaj allegedly made derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi and made provocative statements against minorities.
first published:Feb. 7, 2022, 7:32 am
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