Bharat is Hindu Rashtra: Mohan Bhagwat at RSS event

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said that the vision and proclamation of the Sangh regarding the identity of the nation and the identity of the country's nature are "clear, well-thought-of and firm" that Bharat is "Hindustan, Hindu Rashtra".

Speaking at an RSS event organised here on the occasion of Dusshera, Bhagwat said that for the last nine decades, the Sangh has been working for "creating ekatmata (unity), sadbhavana (goodwill), sadacharan (good conduct) and sadvyavahar (good behaviour) in the society, and a clear vision and devotion towards the nation."

"It is quite evident that the service mentality and devotion of Swayamsevaks have created a trust all over the country. However, attempts are being made to create distrust, fear and hostility among sections who have not yet come in contact with the Sangh. The Sangh is organising the Hindu society: a relentless and misconstrued campaign is going on to extrapolate this to mean that it harbours hatred against those sections, especially Muslims and Christians, who do not call themselves Hindu," Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief went on say that there is an "orchestrated effort to malign the Hindu society and Hindutva through a number of baseless and slanderous allegations."

Behind this, Bhagwat said that there is a thought process, which is relentlessly working to keep our society divided.

"The vision and proclamation of the Sangh regarding the identity of the nation, social identity of all of us, and the identity of the country's nature, are clear, well-thought-of and firm that Bharat is Hindustan, Hindu Rashtra," Bhagwat said.

"In the view of the Sangh, the word Hindu is not confined to just those who call themselves Hindus. Those who belong to Bharat, those of who are descendants of Bharatiya ancestors, those who are working for the ultimate glory of the nation and joining hands in enhancing peace by mingling with each other and accepting, respecting and welcoming all diversities; all those Bharatiyas are Hindus," he added.

He later went on to say that the Sangh is making the whole Hindu society such strong, virtuous and benevolent that it will not fear or frighten anyone, but save the weak and the frightened.

"The confusing concept of the word Hindu, the imagination of confining this to the framework of religion has been distracting our intellect right from the time of the British. There is a section of society, which does not accept this word. They use the term Bharatiya for themselves. Some people address the civilisations based on the Bharatiya nature and culture as Indic in English. Those who use alternative words for themselves, out of fear or confusion, and negate the word Hindu, are also acceptable for the Sangh," Bhagwat said.