What is the meaning of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement ‘Why see Shivling in every mosque’?

India

bbc-BBC Hindi

“History is that which we cannot change. It was neither created by today’s Hindus nor by today’s Muslims, it happened at that time…. Why see Shivling in every mosque?…. Now we don’t have to do any agitation. Is..”

There is discussion everywhere about the speech given by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat during the concluding ceremony of Sangh Shiksha Varg, third year 2022 in Nagpur.

This speech was given at a time when petitions have been filed in the courts regarding the Hindu past of mosques, historical buildings, there is a debate going on about the past of Qutub Minar, Jama Masjid, Taj Mahal. The debate is also that 400, 500, 600 years or so before and who broke how many temples and why and now what will happen next.

Gyanvapi in conversation with BBC

Muslim side lawyer Abhay Yadav
Said that the statement should be welcome.

Hindu side lawyer Vishnu Hari Shankar
He said, “Wherever the temples were demolished, we will fight for their restoration. Gyanvapi is the center of our faith and the dispute cannot be settled amicably for that, so we went to court.”

In his speech, the Sangh chief had asked to settle the Gyanvapi issue together or accept the court’s decision on it.

Vijay Trivedi, a senior journalist and author of a book on RSS
According to Mohan Bhagwat’s statements, it means that he is not supporting the ongoing demonstrations, atmosphere in the country.

Vijay Trivedi feels that the meaning of this speech is that “the Prime Minister and the RSS chief are in sync. Because he (the Prime Minister) also feels that if such an environment deteriorates in the country, then there will be loss.”

Prime Minister Modi has been constantly criticized for being silent on many cases of hate-speech against Muslims.

According to Vijay Trivedi, Mohan Bhagwat’s speech is also important because these things were said in front of the selected volunteers of the third year who will carry forward the work of RSS across the country and “If they also carry forward this message, then we understand That the atmosphere will be fine.”

Ratan Sharda, a Sangh thinker and author of seven books on RSS
According to Mohan Bhagwat was trying to say that the quarrels should be stopped because the country needs to move on from the constant conflicts.

Ratan Sharda says, “He (Sangh chief) said that we should not look at every Muslim as an enemy. He said the people who are here are Indians.”

Ashutosh, senior journalist and author of the book ‘Hindu Rashtra’
Mohan questions Bhagwat’s messages given in the past and the situation after that.

He says, “The big question is that Mohan Bhagwat has been continuously trying to tell since 2018 that Hindutva does not exist without Muslims… but despite that, anti-Muslim sentiment has been continuously raised.”

“So the question is, either his words don’t make any sense, or he seems to be having a two-way conversation, he talks like this to create good optics. But his organizations do something else on the ground. Huh.”

“There are people of Bajrang Dal in Shobha Yatras. Bajrang Dal is an organization of RSS. People are seen carrying swords, guns in Shobha Yatras. Its people go near mosques and raise provocative slogans. They try to hoist the flag at the shrine. How are both things going?”

According to journalist Vijay Trivedi, it is necessary that a strict message should be given to those who do not listen to the words of the RSS chief so that change can be seen on the ground.

Ashutosh asks that when every word said by the RSS chief is a stone line for BJP and every person of RSS, why is the environment not getting better for the minorities?

He says, “I think it’s part of a much larger design. Everyone has their own roles to be divided. And they are playing their respective roles. Its core is to take away all the rights of minorities, They should be made politically irrelevant.”

Despite Mohan Bhagwat’s statements, lewd videos against minorities going viral, Ratan Sharda on the deteriorating atmosphere says that whatever the RSS chief says, he says for the RSS, he says for the Hindu society. Now how many people do not believe in it, it is a democracy.

He says, “There is anger in the mind of Hindus for 70-75 years. Their places of worship were snatched from them. The laws which were made in the name of secularism. They became anti-Hindu and pro-minorities. So the anger in their mind That anger is coming out.”

Critics of the RSS rubbish these allegations.

Ratan Sharda says, “Someone can use wrong language, some can use right. I can use civilized language, someone can use harsh language but there is no doubt that there is anger in the mind of Hindus. Be polite, keep your balance, it has been a constant effort of Mohan ji for the last two to three years.

Some Hindu organizations claim that Muslim rulers demolished some 60,000 Hindu temples, but according to historians such as DN Jha and Richard Eaton, 80 Hindu temples were damaged.

RSS ideologue and Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha
Narendra Modi counts the works of the government.

He says, “Whether it is Ayushman Bharat, whether it is Mudra Yojana, whether it is Make-in-India, whether it is start-ups, the Narendra Modi government did not differentiate between religion and caste.”

“Today I am appealing to the Muslims of India for the first time that the time has come to do outreach with Hindu organizations. Hindus have done outreach till today. Now the opportunity before the Muslims is to outreach all the historical questions. Follow the path of coordination and dialogue to resolve the issue.

In the year 2019, on the Supreme Court’s decision on the Ayodhya case, the RSS chief had said that the RSS would not be a part of any movement in future.

Now when Mohan Bhagwat says why to see Shivling in every mosque, does it mean that for RSS the matter was only till Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura and to see Shivling in Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, Mound Masjid in Lucknow etc. Or is it not right to make petitions about his past, to demonstrate?

On this, Sangh ideologue Rakesh Sinha says, “Sangh believes that sometimes we know history, but knowing history does not mean that we should practically put it on the ground.”

BJP spokesperson Guruprakash says that if people want to approach the court on any matter, then it is their fundamental right to do so.

Ratan Sharda, who has written seven books on RSS, believes that history has been wrongly told to the people and needs to be corrected.

He says, no one says that “Destroy the Taj Mahal, destroy the Qutub Minar, but they were and are the places of Hindus. It should be accepted.”

“If there are papers which show that the Red Fort was built before Shah Jahan, then why do we say that Shah Jahan built it… Every country wants to know its true history.”

In some circles, where there were speculations about the movement for other temples after Ayodhya, Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has spoken of not doing more agitations in future.

According to Sangh ideologue and critic Dilip Deodhar Sangh, the Sangh has stayed away from movements and after (RSS founder) Hedgewar (former Sangh chief) Golwalkar also kept the Sangh away from movements for 33 years.

He says, “Golwalkar’s line was to agitate, that is, there is harmful activity.”

Although Dilip Deodhar also says that JP movement and Ram Janmabhoomi movement took place during the tenure of Balasaheb Deoras.

He says, “The JP movement was a movement of the society. It was not just an action of the RSS. Ramjanmabhoomi was a movement of Hindus, not of the RSS.”

According to Deodhar, the Sangh will stay away from agitations for a long time “because now the RSS is in power. Whatever will happen through parliamentary law, through courts, not through agitation.”

In his speech, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat while commenting on Muslims said that neither the Hindus of today nor the Muslims of today made history.

Journalist Vijay Trivedi considers Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on Muslims important and challenging.

He says, “If the RSS chief is talking like this, then it is not an easy thing. When Balasaheb Deoras had said that Muslims should get entry, some big people in the same House of Representatives told (to him) that if you have If you want to run this, then you should form another Sangh. Today there is no one to tell this to Mohan Bhagwat.”

Sangh ideologue Dilip Deodhar believes that more Muslims will join the RSS in future.

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