Rahul doesn’t understand India: RSS on IS remark

“Rahul Gandhi says he is trying to understand India. When he hasn’t understood India yet, how can someone expect he will understand the RSS?” ARUN KUMAR, RSS spokesperson

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi hasn’t understood India yet and, consequently, can’t be expected to understand the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a senior RSS functionary said on Monday, in response to the Opposition leader equating the Sangh with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The entire world today is facing the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. He (Gandhi) is unaware... he does not understand the gravity of the situation. That’s why he is making such statements,” Rashtriya Sway- amsevak Sangh’s publicity in-charge Arun Kumar told reporters.

Arun Kumar added that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat would attend a three-day lecture series in New Delhi between September 17 and 19 to interact with prominent personalities, including legal luminaries, columnists, and political activists, to offer the Sangh’s perspective on the future of the country.

There were unsubstantiated reports, denied by the Congress, that Gandhi has also been invited to the lectures. RSS’S publicity in-charge Arun Kumar said it was the Rashtriya Sway- amsevak Sangh’s prerogative to invite whoever it wanted to in response to a question on Gandhi’s participation, but did not directly answer it. “Leave this to us... But people from all walks of life, including from different political outfits, ideologies and religions, will be invited.”

“Rahul Gandhi says he is trying to understand India. When he hasn’t understood India yet, how can someone expect he will understand the RSS?” Kumar added.

Gandhi said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London last week that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s idea is similar to that of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world.

He also alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was trying to “change” the nature of India and “capture” its institutions.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Arun Kumar said, realises that there is a growing eagerness among larger section of the society, including the intellectuals and the youth, to know and understand the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ perspective on various issues of national importance. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s publicity in-charge Arun Kumar said this is the first time the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is organising such an event and trying to interact with such a wide range of people.