RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said the idea of a Hindu Rashtra does not mean excluding Muslims from India, asserting that anyone who believes Muslims should have no place in Bharat may not understand Hindutva.
Recalling a conversation with members of the Muslim community in 2018, Bhagwat said they had asked whether Muslims would be driven out if India became a Hindu Rashtra. He said such exclusion was contrary to Hindutva.
“If any Hindu thinks there should be no Muslims in Bharat, he may not be a Hindu,” Bhagwat said, adding that those who identify as Hindus should believe that different paths lead to the same God.
His remarks reiterate the position he outlined in New Delhi in 2018, when he said a Hindu Rashtra could not exist without Muslims and that Hindutva represented universal brotherhood.
Bhagwat had then argued that any ideology seeking to exclude Muslims or Christians could not represent Hindutva. He also said some older RSS texts describing religious minorities as internal threats were no longer applicable as the organisation’s thinking had evolved.
The latest comments again emphasise the RSS chief’s stated view of Hindu Rashtra as an idea that includes religious minorities.
