RSS leader pitches for change in national discourse

RSS today pitched for setting a new national discourse in the country, contending that the existing one was intended to "impede and blunt" the nationalist forces and that "new" terms like "intolerance" are being used to target it.
RSS functionary Arun Kumar, who is in charge of its Delhi unit, said the current debate was not rational and was aimed at establishing the ideology of "some people".
The agenda of RSS is not about nourishing the interest of some individuals but that of the nation and society, he said at a function to mark the release of book 'Know about RSS', written by journalist Arun Anand.

"The problem is not in RSS. Problem is in the direction of discourse which has been made after independence. The country's discourse, the way it has been done, it is not rational but selective. That discourse is the agenda of some people, to establish the ideology of some people and to target somebody," Kumar said.
Kumar said the discourse, which has been run in the last 60 years, has turned issues into non-issues and non-issues into issues.
"The country has only one requirement. We have to change the discourse. We have to set the discourse. A discourse is always based on information and information based on facts, not perception.

"The debate which comes up in the country, that debate for the last 60-70 years, it has just one target, the nationalist forces of this country, the national consciousness of this country, what can be done to impede and blunt them," he said.

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Kumar said the negative image of Sangh reaches everywhere first, while the work done by it reaches later.
"Mahatma Gandhi was killed, there was an FIR, no mention was made of Sangh in that. All commission did not name RSS... But the Sangh worker has to answer to a person who does not even know about RSS, does not know anything about killing of Gandhi. This negative image has gone out in the entire country," he said.

Noting that understanding RSS is not so easy, Kumar said that during its formation, it was decided that it is not an organisation but a movement.
"The role of RSS is to transform the society. We are not an organisation within society. What a society should be, making it is our work. We do not consider Sangh and society as two separate things. We consider it one," he said.
Referring to the discourse which is presently going on in the country, he said there is a need for providing correct information to the people. "The requirement of present times is one, that is we have to change the discourse and set the discourse... That is the only goal of RSS," he said.

Union minister Nadda said that in order to know about any organisation, learning its history and its role in the context of the county is very important and efforts should be made to learn from history and take corrective measures.
Nadda said there is a need to evaluate and assess the role of RSS as 90 years have passed since its formation. "We should evaluate and it should be presented correctly. When 90 years have passed, RSS' existence, its contribution must be assessed. What role did we have in freedom movement, at the time of independence and after it...
"The decisions which might have been influenced due to the presence of RSS, one should assess these things. We have seen in the field of education through serious thinking and intervention and positive contribution what role the outfit has played," he said.

"People from Sangh came into politics, what is their contribution, that also needs to be assessed. Role during crisis and calamities, the works RSS has done, those opposed to us too have praised us so that too needs to be assessed," he said.
Nadda said the book would give the right perspective about the Sangh to a common man and help break the "myths" as there are a lot of perception both positive and negative about the outfit.