Row over RSS chief’s remarks overblown, the institution is only seeking to define Hindutva as pluralistic
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s recent comments, that the organisation regards the entire 130 crore population of India as members of “Hindu society”, has come at a time when the country is witnessing large-scale protests over a legislation that critics say is ‘anti-Muslim’, ‘divisive’ and part of BJP’s ‘majoritarian project’. A Congress leader called Bhagwat’s remarks a “disrespect to the Constitution” while AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that RSS “wants the nation to have only one religion”. If we look at the full statement made by Bhagwat, instead of the fragmented version that made the headlines — “RSS considers 130 crore people of the country as Hindus” — we note that the word ‘Hindu’ is used as a geographical, cultural and civilisational construct, not a theological or religious construct. In the ‘liberal’ discourse on RSS, which also forms the backbone of mainstream media narrative, this inclusive concept of Hindutva has been conveniently glossed over in favour of a virulent interpretation that casts RSS as the agent of a “monotheistic” Hinduism that suffers from an envy of proselytizing faiths and militates against Hinduism’s pluralistic ethos.
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