'The Hindu" News
paper's article on RSS aganda
Guided
by senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar, the Dharm Sanskriti Sangam has decided
to celebrate one key festival of each religion born in India.
The
RSS has looked to unite Hindus (Sangathan) since its foundation in 1925, but a
Sangh offshoot is now looking at uniting all religions born on Indian soil.
Guided
by senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar, the Dharm Sanskriti Sangam has decided
to celebrate one key festival of each religion born in India.
“We
will celebrate any one key festival of prominent Indian panths – of the Jains,
Buddhists, Valmikis, Ravidasis, Sikhs, etc. From sage Valmiki to Dr. Ambedkar,
we want to honour all,” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu.
Yatras
planned
Before
next year’s Buddha Purnima in May, the Sangam will take out yatras from four
corners of India to converge at Bodh Gaya, where it would offer Cheevar Daan to
the Buddha. Cheevar is the cloth that Buddhist monks wear, said Sukhvir Bauddh,
a Buddhist who is an office-bearer of the organisation. Mr. Kumar had performed
this ritual this year too.
The
organisation has Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Arya Samajists in key positions.
The idea isn’t new to Hindutva. Its prime ideologue V.D. Savarkar had defined a
Hindu as “everyone who regards Bharatbhumi from the Indus to the seas as his
fatherland and holy land.” All Indic religions are “Hindu” in this sense.
Seeing
unity in Indic faiths
The
Dharm Sanskriti Sangam, a Sangh offshoot, seeks to unite all religions born on
Indian soil. Within the RSS tradition too, M.S. Golwalkar’s Bunch Of Thoughts
sees Christianity and Islam as “threats.”
Guided
by senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar, the outfit has decided to celebrate
one key festival of each religion born in India.
To
be fair, however, Mr. Kumar mentors yet another Sangh offshoot Muslim Rashtriya
Manch, which seeks to reconcile Muslim beliefs to Hindu ethos. This attempt,
however, has attracted criticism from fringe right-wing group Hindu Mahasabha.
Politically,
the Sangam’s bid is also a reaching out to neo-Buddhists, or Dalit converts to
Buddhism. Critical of Hinduism, Dalit leader Dr. Ambedkar had converted to
Buddhism and many Dalits in Maharashtra followed suit. While releasing some
books on Dr. Ambedkar recently, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had expressed happiness
that the Dalit icon had adopted an Indian faith.
At
a recent programme of the Sangam, Mr. Kumar said that India could be a uniting
factor for all Indic faiths, some doctrinal differences notwithstanding.
Keywords:
Indic
religions, Hindutva
outfits, RSS, RSS
functionary Indresh Kumar, Dharm
Sanskriti Sangam
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