RSS open to all castes and religions: Mohan Bhagwat

New Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday that Muslims and Christians were welcome in the Sangh, but once they are in the organisation their distinct identities are not recognised but they are identified as sons of Bharat Mata and are part of a broader Hindu society. Bhagwat underlined that Hindu empires have always been secular and secularism has always been their state policy.

Addressing a two-day lecture series titled '100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons' in Bengaluru, Bhagwat asserted that the organisation does not categorise its members on the basis of their caste or religion. "No one enters the Sangh as a Brahmin nor as a Muslim or Christian...You can come to the Sangha but keep your 'separateness' out. Your speciality is welcome. But when you come inside the Shakha, you come as a son of Bharat Mata, a member of the Hindu society," Bhagwat said. He said Muslims, Christians and people from other castes come to the Shakha. But the Sangh doesn't ask who they are. That is how the Sangh works, he explained. In an apparent rebuttal to Congress leaders' criticism that the RSS is operating without registration, the Sangh chief said that the RSS is recognised as a body of individuals. "RSS was established in 1925. So, do you expect us to have registered with the British government?" Bhagwat said in reply to a question during an in-house question and answer session organised by the RSS.

He said that after independence, the Indian government did not make registration compulsory. According to him, the income-tax department and courts have termed RSS as a body of individuals and the organisation was exempted from income-tax. "We were banned thrice. So, the government has recognised us," he said. Bhagwat said that there were many things which are not registered. "Even Hindu dharma is not registered," he remarked.

Bhagwat's remarks came in the backdrop of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's recent comments that the RSS should be banned. His son and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge has demanded a ban on RSS activities in government institutions and public places.