Beyond RSS charm offensive: Time to bridge gaps between words and action

A single speech cannot undo the damage RSS and its affiliates have wrought on Indian society; cynics may suggest his statement is little more than paying lip service to India's diversity

Taken at face value, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's statements at a three-day brainstorming session in the national capital on Monday marks a welcome outreach by the organisation, which has provided the ideological underpinning for the extreme and exclusionary vocabulary that has dominated the public discourse in recent years. “Nobody is an outsider for the Sangh. Those who oppose us today are also ours,” Mr Bhagwat said in terms that almost matched the soaring tones of former US President Barack Obama. He even generously complimented the Congress for its role in the freedom movement, albeit in somewhat confusing