Bhagwat to meet 70 foreign journalists on Sept 24 to explain the functioning of RSS
NEWDELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will meet about 70 journalists working for foreign publication on September 24 to “set the records straight” about the functioning and objectives of the Sangh parivar, people familiar with the matter said.
An RSS functionary, who is coordinating the meeting, said invitation is being extended to 70 foreign media organisations from various countries barring Pakistan.
Bhagwat often holds such interactions with the journalists in the national capital and in states, but this is perhaps the first time that the RSS chief is meeting journalists working for foreign publications.
“There is a lot of stereo-typing about the RSS. The western media presents the RSS as a Hindu militia organization which it is not. We wanted to reach out to these journalists to explain the purpose for which the RSS came into existence and how it works,” the person cited above said.
An RSS leader said that the idea for such an interaction was being discussed within the organization since the April-may parliamentary elections when a section of the foreign media reportedly presented the Sangh parivar affiliates in a poor light.
However, what served as the i mmediate t r i gger f or t he Sangh’s media outreach was the controversy surrounding the recent meeting between the RSS chief and German Ambassador Walter J Linder. Linder had visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur in July and met Bhagwat and other leaders of the outfit.
“A section of foreign publications presented the RSS as a ‘Nazi outfit’.
It was decided that the RSS will meet foreign journalists to counter this narrative. Once the decision was taken, we thought there could be no one better than Bhagwat himself to hold such a discussion,” the RSS leader quoted earlier said.
The event will see Bhagwat making nearly an hour-long speech to journalists. He will also take a few questions from the journalists, the source mentioned earlier said.