Qurban Ali

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s has recently made an important statement that Hindu and Muslims of the country are one as they are born on the same land. We cannot be separated on the basis of the style of worship. The DNA of all Indians is the same. Now, it’s time to set aside our linguistic, regional and other differences and unite to make India a Vishwaguru (world leader) that alone will make the world a safer place.

Mohan Bhagwat made these remarks on the occasion of the release of the book Victory Coordination - Ek Initiative by a Muslim scholar Dr Khwaja Iftikhar Ahmed. Understandably, the book’s release is linked to the 'Vote bank politics. RSS works only for nationalism as politics is not the work of volunteers. Sangh works to unite, whereas politics becomes a weapon of division. Hindu-Muslims could not be united only because of politics. Sangh puts its full force in elections but whatever it does, it does in the interest of the nation.

Mohan Bhagwat also said clearly that the divide created by politics has to be removed. He said the RSS believe that the cow is holy and worshipable; India is a Hindu nation, and lynching is a criminal act. We do not support them. If a Hindu says that no Muslim should live in India, he is not a Hindu. The cow is a sacred animal but those who are killing humans in the name of the cow are going against Hindutva. The law should act against them (criminals) without any bias.

Mohan Bhagwat also added that the word 'Hindu-Muslim unity is misleading. Hindu-Muslim is not separate; both are one. When people consider the two to be different, only then the crisis arises. We love our motherland because it has nurtured us and we live on it. There is a threat of burgeoning population in the future and that needs to be corrected. The word minority is a misnomer; say we are all one. We say Hindus, you say Indians. Don't get into a battle of words. It has been inculcated in the minds of minorities that Hindus will eat them. Muslims should not get caught "in this vicious cycle of fear." They have also been fed that Islam is in danger in India, but when a minority is persecuted by the majority, the voice of the majority is also against it.

He said delivering an incendiary speech may bring fame for some, but it will not work on the ground. It cannot win the support of Hindus.' Mohan Bhagwat strongly condemned the incidents of mob lynching saying that such incidents are ‘against Hindutva’ and the people involved are not Hindus. Action should be taken against those who are involved in the lynching.

 In the program, he also said, "It has been proved that we are descendants of the same ancestor for the last 4,000 years. The DNA of the people of India is the same. Hindus and Muslims are not two groups, there is nothing to unite; they are already one and together. Democracy cannot be dominated by Hindus or Muslims.

At a time when the country's minorities, especially Muslims, are under attack and are being targeted in every way by radical elements, this bold statement of the RSS chief should be welcomed. He is also to be commended for the fact that he has explicitly stated that 'Muslims are equal citizens of this country,' while Hindutva forces have been involved in telling the indigenous religions from the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Muslims). Mohan Bhagwat has, thus, rejected the argument that Muslims are outsiders.

However almost at the same time Bhagwat was making these conciliatory remarks to strengthen the unity of the country just a hundred kilometres away in Haryana, BJP leader Suraj Pal Amu was making provocative speeches. He was saying that 'Get the Pakistanis out of the country and see to it that  Aurangzeb, Babur and Taimur are not born in the country.'  Addressing a Mahapanchayat at Gurgugram he made highly objectionable statements against Muslims on the pretext of opposing marriages between Hindus and Muslims that he labelled as 'love jihad and 'religious conversion' and asking people to thrash the Muslims. Amu suggested that the youth should produce more children. He also said that 'If India is our mother, then we are the father of Pakistan and we will not give Pakistanis a house on rent here. “Get them out of the country. Pass this resolution,” he said.

The Mahapanchayat was called to consider the issue of conversion, love jihad and population control. Although a senior BJP leader from Haryana shrugged off Amu's statement and said that it was his personal stand, the videos of his speech have become very viral on social media and don’t contribute to the bonhomie that the RSS chief was referring to.

In fact, what RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said very clearly for the first time, which should have been said seven years ago when the BJP government was formed for the first time at the Center. From that day lynching started against Muslims and its first victim was Mohsi in Pune. 

Qurab Ali was formerly with BBC