Our volunteers work to stop incidents like lynching: RSS chief

On National Register of Citizens in Assam, Bhagwat said the exercise was not about expelling people but about identifying the citizens. "There is no place for Hindus in the world except India," the statement said.

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: September 24, 2019 08:29 PM IST

3 min read

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat addresses the crowd at a Vijayadashami event in Nagpur on Thursday. (Twitter/@RSSorg)

The RSS chief also spoke on the issue of National Register of Citizens in Assam, saying that it’s not about expelling people but about identifying the citizens. (File)

On the backdrop of several lynching incidents being reported from Jharkhand in recent months, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Tuesday said the organisation condemned all forms of violence and its volunteers should try to stop such incidents.

Bhagwat, who was interacting with journalists from foreign media in the national capital, said, “If a swayamsevak is found guilty, we will disown him and the law should follow its own course,” PTI quoted Bhagwat as saying.

In September alone, at least three similar incidents have been reported across Jharkhand. In the last three years, at least 21 people have died in mob violence across the state. The lynchings have stemmed from accusations of animal slaughter, theft and child lifting rumours among others.

The RSS chief also touched upon various issues like Kashmir, National Register of Citizens, and economic slowdown.

On the government’s move to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370, Bhagwat said the move would remove the barriers that existed between them and the rest of the nation. He said before the defanging of Article 370, Kashmiris were “alienated”. “Whatever fears they have about losing land and jobs should be allayed,” PTI quoted Bhagwat as saying.

In a statement, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said, “This interaction was part of the continuous process where the ‘Sarsanghchalak’ (chief) engages in constructive dialogue with people from different walks of the society.”

On National Register of Citizens in Assam, Bhagwat said the exercise was not about expelling people but about identifying the citizens. “There is no place for Hindus in the world except India,” the statement said.

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On homosexuality, Bhagwat said it was a “variation” and not an “abnormality”. “They should be treated as equal human beings and integrated into society,” PTI quoted Bhagwat as saying.

Bhagwat, also told foreign journalists that the RSS would never be a political body and “the Hindutva it espouses is about unity in diversity”.

When asked about his views on the economic slowdown, with GDP growth falling to a six-year low of 5 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal, Bhagwat said that there was “no policy paralysis” since Narendra Modi became prime minister.

-With PTI inputs

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