Those who could not find safe place elsewhere came to Bharat: RSS chief

New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said Bharat has, for centuries, provided shelter to people who could not find a safe place elsewhere, stressing that the country’s civilisational ethos is rooted in acceptance of diversity and the unity of humanity.
Addressing members of the Indian-American community at Madison Square Garden in New York on August 29, Bhagwat said people belonging to different denominations have traditionally lived in Bharat.
“By tradition, Bharat has given shelter to everybody. Those who could not find a safe place in the world came to Bharat, where they found their place,” Bhagwat said at a gathering of over 5,000 attendees.
Bhagwat said Bharat’s larger civilisational responsibility was to demonstrate to the world how unity could coexist with diversity.
“What is the destiny given to Bharat? To realise, and from time to time, make the world realise this unity in diversity. We are one, and due to diversity, that oneness is decorated. So, diversity has to be celebrated,” he said.
Bhagwat said nations should not be viewed merely as geographical entities, arguing that each nation has a distinctive role to play in the larger scheme of things.
“Nations, however, are not merely geographical entities. In the grand design of the universe, each nation is bound to carry out a specific duty. As Swami Vivekananda famously noted, every single nation has its own unique destiny to fulfil,” Bhagwat said.
The RSS chief also said social transformation could not be achieved through politics alone, while expressing concern over the growing influence of self-interest in political life.
“Things cannot be achieved through politics alone. Sorry to say, but the fact is that politics has now become a game of self-interest,” Bhagwat said.
Emphasising the RSS’s broader understanding of religion and humanity, Bhagwat said he was neither a religious scholar nor a religious authority, but belonged to a social organisation whose traditional philosophy holds that different religions can coexist because humanity is one.
“I am working in a society which traditionally says that religions might be different, but humanity is one. Truth is one, and humanity is a product of that truth,” he said.
Bhagwat explained that while the underlying truth may be considered one, it is interpreted differently by people depending on how they perceive and describe it. Human beings, he added, are influenced by the mental framework or “software” created within their minds.
Bhagwat also sought to clarify the RSS’s position on Muslims and the concept of Hindu Rashtra, saying that Hinduism, as he understands it, does not imply exclusion of people belonging to other faiths.
“If you want to call yourself Hindu, you must believe that all paths are leading to the same. And every human has a dignity. There is no difference between human beings,” Bhagwat said.
Recalling a question posed to him by Muslims at an earlier interaction, Bhagwat said they had asked whether the RSS, as a Hindu organisation advocating the idea of Hindu Rashtra, would seek to drive Muslims out of Bharat.
“I said no, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu,” Bhagwat said.