Won’t make extra effort to impress non- Hindus: RSS
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) has said that it would not make any special effort to reach out to non- Hindus ( read Muslims) but those who believed they were Hindus were welcome to join it.
“Our first priority is to unite Hindus and create awareness among them and we will continue to work on these lines. We are keen to expand our organisation and the social media has helped in making the RSS popular. Each month, we get queries from about 3,0003,500 youth who want to join us,” said senior RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi while talking to reporters on the concluding day of the three- day Sangh conclave in Lucknow.
Listing the priorities of the RSS, the ‘ Sar- karyavah’ of the Sangh said that their priority area was now the villages. “We plan to fulfil a target of developing 250 villages. In each village, we will promote education — not just literacy — health, cottage industries, agriculture and self reliance. We want the people to make their own development plans so that development is permanent,” he said.
He further said pollution was a new challenge in the country and the RSS would work on this in the coming months. The RSS leader parried questions on honour killings and cases of love jihad and said that lack of adequate awareness leads to such incidents. “We must develop a new thinking which will make the people more aware and responsible. We will oppose if anything illegal hap-
The ‘ Sar- karyavah’ of the Sangh said that their priority area was now the villages
pens,” he said. To another question, Mr Joshi clarified that the RSS did not have any branch or unit outsides India. “We have RSS workers living in other countries and some of them are continuing the work of the Sangh by uniting Hindus living abroad. They are active in about 45 countries,” he explained.
The Sangh leader refused to comment on the possible alliances in Maharashtra and said that the subject was outside their domain. “It is for the BJP to decide what is to be done. We do not meddle in political matters and neither do we have any role in it,” he said.
On the Ram temple issue, Mr Joshi reiterated that it was up to the Bhartiya Janata Party government to remove hurdles because the Ram temple was already in place and all that was needed was the construction of a magnificent structure there.