Bengaluru: While stressing its resolve to propagate “one nation-one culture”, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday urged people to choose icons “wisely”, asking whether they wanted an “invader” like Aurangzeb or his brother Dara Shikoh, who “respected the ethos of Indian culture”.
Following the conclusion of the Sangh’s three-day Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) meet Sunday, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale told reporters the initiative of building ‘one nation-one culture’ is aimed at setting right a “distorted narrative in written history” and to build “a harmonious and organised Bharat”.
He said RSS plans to achieve its goal by reaching out to people in mandals and basthis (small pockets with less than 10,000 population) through a series of programmes. The initiative will be part of the organisation’s centenary celebrations which begin Oct 2, Vijayadashami Day. The day is significant since RSS was founded by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar on Vijayadashami Day in 1925.
Reply to a question on the Nagpur riots, Hosabale said: “The country’s emancipation was achieved by securing Independence in 1947, but mental decolonisation is yet to be achieved. The freedom struggle began with people like Rana Pratap Singh much before the Independence movement. We will obviously fight against it if someone draws inspiration from an invader like Aurangzeb and distorts the narrative. If one wants to choose an icon with an Indian ethos, then there are people like Dara Shikoh. It is not about religion, but a question of whom to choose as your icon.”
He said historical facts must be acknowledged but renaming Aurangzeb Road in Delhi to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road had a purpose.
On the Karnataka govt’s decision to provide 4% reservation for Muslims in civil contracts, Hosabale said the proposed legislation will not stand legal scrutiny. He said the Constitution does not allow reservation based on religion and that the Supreme Court had struck down such legislations in the past. But he said RSS would welcome initiatives such as a sub-plan for Scheduled Castes and Tribes as it aims to empower underprivileged sections. Last week, the Karnataka legislative assembly had passed a resolution demanding the BJP-led central govt implement a sub-plan for SCs and STs just as Karnataka had done.
On whether RSS would cover Muslims as part of the organisation’s outreach programme, Hosabale said: “The sarsanghchalak has already reached out to so-called minorities.”
On another issue raised in the state assembly, Hosabale defended the appointments of RSS workers as personal assistants of several ministers in Maharashtra. He insisted the appointments were based on merit and were not “illegal since the persons appointed are citizens of India”.
On contentious issues such as waqf land, caste census, and delimitation of parliamentary seats, he indicated the organisation would wait and watch since the Centre is still fine tuning policies on them. On the delay to elect a new BJP national president, he said RSS will not interfere in the internal affairs of its political wing.