Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said the organisation neither had ideologues nor did it believe in any rigid ideology or doctrine, PTI reported.
The leader of the right-wing nationalist outfit, which is the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said it could change everything in its ideology apart from its belief that India is a “Hindu rashtra”.
Bhagwat was speaking at the launch of the book The RSS: Roadmaps for the 21st Century by Sunil Ambekar in Delhi. Ambekar a senior functionary of the outfit and the organising secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
He asserted that RSS was not represented by any book, including Bunch of Thoughts written by the organisation’s second chief MS Golwalkar.
“It is wrong to call or describe anything as Sangh’s ideology,” Bhagwat said. “Sangh founder Dr Hedgewar did not ever say he can fully understand the Sangh. After having been the sarsangachalak for so long, Guru ji said I may have began to understand the Sangh.”
Bhagwat told the audience that RSS founder KB Hedgewar had said Hindustan is a “Hindu rashtra”, The Indian Express reported. “We have inherited this fact of life,” he added. “We cannot change it. This is a Hindu rashtra so long as there is even a single person calling himself Hindu.”
Bhagwat also spoke about the organisation’s role in society, and said the basic purpose was to change each person. “The Sangh wants the whole society to be organised,” he added.
Without naming the LGBT community, Bhagwat said recently there had been discussions on some matters raised by the book. The RSS chief said homosexuality and integration of transgender people into the society can be addressed. “These people have a place in society,” he said. “In Mahabharata, Jarasandha [king of Magadha] had two generals they fought in the war alongside the others. We have also spoken about it, this is not such a big problem, we can find solutions. There is no practice of debate over everything.”
The event was attended by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Dharmendra Pradhan, Prahlad Singh Patel, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar, among others, IANS reported.
Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!