‘No let-up in hate speeches, no intervention by RSS’: Muslim leaders in dialogue with RSS express ‘anguish’

“There is virtually no let-up in the consistent barrage of hate
speeches, calls for genocide and acts of violence against Muslims. The recent extended anti-Muslim marches in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh were full of hate and included calls for boycott of Muslim businesses. In fact, the hate marches in Maharashtra (duly reported in national press) extended over months. Most of this is in police presence, without any action, and even if there is action, it’s perfunctory and people are let off with ease. This is causing anguish and immense consternation among Muslims,’’reads the letter.

“After our meeting with you last August, we had met a large number of influential leaders (religious and otherwise) among Muslims. With one voice they supported our initiative and we had carried this message to Bhai Krishna Gopal and others. Today, there is a sense of dismay and a question on the usefulness of our efforts,’’ it adds.

While disappointed over the progress so far, the AEEDU says it looks forward to continued dialogue with RSS official Krishna Gopal. It adds that they had sought another meeting with Bhagwat, to which it received a response from the RSS chief’s office on March 7 that he would be busy for several months.

The AEEDU met Bhagwat in August last year for the first time, and at a January meeting in continuation of that, the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had sent its representatives. The AEEDU has also been holding talks with other Muslim groups to bring them into the dialogue process.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Siddiqui said: “We got a very positive response from Muslim Ulema and a large section of intellectuals and professionals. We are all on the same page on concerns expressed by the RSS leadership about the concept of kafir or jihad or cow slaughter. However, the concerns we had expressed about hate speeches and concerted attacks on minorities have largely been ignored by the Sangh leadership. Any engagement requires a positive response from both sides.”

Siddiqui said this had caused them to question the effectiveness of the engagement. “Of course we want to continue engaging with the RSS. We don’t believe that this kind of a continuing confrontation (between communities) is conducive for the country. But they also have to address our concerns. There has to be some movement.”

The letter sent by AEEDU members says: “No one can doubt the credibility and desire of the Sangh towards nation building. But as you yourself said, nation building will not be possible if we do not take along all sections, including the minorities that constitute 20% of India. Therefore, under the circumstances, it is absolutely
imperative that voices such as yours, as indeed from senior echelons of the Sangh, are heard loud and clear to condemn such acts and to clear our country of communal discord and speak of love and harmony. You have spoken on this on many occasions and the impact was noticed. We urge you to please speak more and urge the Union as well as state governments to take the strictest possible action against those who seem committed to harm our nation through discord.”

Since last year’s meeting with Bhagwat, AEEDU members have met Muslim leaders individually as part of the dialogue with the RSS – in Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, representing different sections of the community.

At a media interaction on the final day of a three-day meeting of the
Sangh’s apex body All India Pratinidhi Sabha earlier this month, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale was asked about its interactions with Muslim leaders. In reply, he said: “As and when there is an invitation from that side… there is a visible inclination from their side… that they want to meet us… we respond accordingly. The initiative is from that side. There is no outreach from the Sangh. We are only responding to positive steps from that side.”

At the meetings, the RSS had expressed concern over words such as kafir and jihad being used within the Muslim community, and the Ulemas had agreed that “there is no place in India for language such as this, and no need to use such words’’.

The Muslim side had raised the issue of hate speeches, violence, lawlessness, and indiscriminate use of bulldozers against the accused. After the meeting, leaders who attended it said the RSS officials had accepted that such meetings were “problematic”, but said they did not have much control over such organisations or gatherings.

Leaders of the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, which had come under attack from CPI(M) leader and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the meeting with the RSS, had called it an “initial dialogue to understand each other’s stand”.

The RSS leaders had proposed that future meetings be held outside Delhi, in other parts of the country.