Sensible Muslim leaders must oppose extremism: RSS chief

Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), called on Muslim leaders to adopt a clear stance against extremism on Monday.

‘Islam came to Bharat with invaders. This is a historical fact, and it is necessary for this to be stated as such. Sensible leaders of the Muslim community must oppose extremism. They will need to speak up firmly against fanatics. This work will need long-term effort and patience. It will be a long and tough test for all of us. The sooner we start this effort, the less damage it will cause to our society,’ Bhagwat said.

His statements were made during a gathering in the city hosted by the Global Strategic Policy Foundation, a Pune-based organisation. Kashmiri students, retired defence personnel and RSS members made up the majority of the crowd.

The conference took place in the midst of a national discussion, particularly among Indian Muslims, about how to respond to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Last week’s statements by poet and song composer Javed Akhtar, suggesting comparisons between the RSS and the Taliban, sparked outrage, with a local BJP official in Mumbai demanding an apology. ‘Nation First, Nation Above All’ was the meeting’s theme.

One of the speakers at the meeting, Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), Chancellor of Central University in Kashmir, told a leading daily that the gathering had been planned for some time but had become timely in light of the happenings in Afghanistan.

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‘Hindus and Muslims in India share the same ancestry. In our view, the word Hindu means motherland and the culture that we have inherited from ancient times. The term Hindu… denotes every person irrespective of their language, community or religion. Everyone is a Hindu, and it is in this context that we see every Indian citizen as a Hindu. The faith of another will not be disrespected here, but for that, we should be thinking not of Muslim dominance but of India’s dominance. For the country to progress, all have to work together,’ Bhagwat stated, reinforcing a subject that he frequently discusses.

Arif Mohammed Khan, the Governor of Kerala, who attended the meeting, emphasised the significance of recognising diversity and pluralism. ‘Wherever in the world diversity was destroyed, civilisations have vanished, while only those where diversity was preserved prospered. Bharatiya Sanskriti does not consider anyone an ‘other’ because everyone is considered the same,’ he said.

After the 1971 war, Pakistan devised a great strategy to bleed India, but the government, army, police, and Kashmiri people rejected this plot, according to Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).