Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said that the Sangh regards the 130 crore population of India as 'Hindu society', irrespective of their religion and culture. He was speaking at a public meeting organised as part of the three-day 'Vijaya Sankalpa Sibiram' of RSS members from Telangana at the Saroornagar Stadium on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The RSS meeting was held even as protests continued across the country on Wednesday against the Centre's proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). However, Bhagwat made no direct reference to the CAA or the NRC in his speech.
Speaking at the event, Bhagwat claimed that irrespective of religion and culture, people who have the nationalistic spirit and respect the culture of the country and its heritage are Hindus. "Entire society is ours and the Sangh aims to build such a united society," he said.
When Sangh says Hindu, it includes those who believe India is their motherland, he said. "The son of mother India, whether he may speak any language, from any region, follow any form of worship or not believing in worship of any, is a Hindu....In this regard, for Sangh all the 130 crore people of India is Hindu society," Bhagwat added.
He went on to add, "There is a famous saying that there is unity in diversity. But our country goes one step ahead. Not just unity in diversity, (it is) diversity of unity. We are not searching for unity in diversity. We are searching for the unity from which the diversity came and there are different ways to achieve unity."
The public meeting was attended by a large number of people, including swayamsevaks from Telangana. Earlier on Wednesday, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi met with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao over the issue of the National Population Register (NPR) and the NRC.
Owaisi, who led a delegation of United Muslim Action Committee, said KCR suggested to them to invite leaders of all parties to the protest meeting scheduled at Nizamabad on December 27.
At the meeting, KCR said that this was not an issue of Muslims alone but of the whole country and the Constitution, but also stressed on the need to maintain peace at any cost.
PTI inputs