By Nava Thakuria,
North East based senior journalist
Rashtriyata Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sar Sanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat, while attending a public meeting in Shillong of Meghalaya, stated that Bharat is an ancient nation since time immemorial, but due to forgetting the civilizational motto and values, it lost the freedom. He also added that ‘our binding force among one another is our inherent faith in our age-old value, which lies in spirituality’.
“These values of this country’s eternal civilization have been named as Hindutva by people outside our country. We are Hindus, but there is no particular definition of Hindu, although it’s our identity. Both the terms Bharatiya and Hindu are synonyms. It is a geo-cultural identity in fact,” he pointed out.
He was welcomed with the traditional Khasi way for the program on Sunday. Addressing the audience, Bhagwat narrated different inspiring incidents related to the Sangh founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who was a born patriot. It was interesting how, while being jailed fighting the British colonial power in the freedom struggle, according to the judge who was hearing the petition, Hedgewar’s reply in the court was more seditious than his original speech, for which he was jailed.
Sangh teaches to do sacrifice for the country giving up one’s individual selfish ends, Bhagwat commented, adding that in the hourlong Sangh Shakhas, the people learn about these benevolent values and duty to the motherland. RSS draws this tradition of sacrifice from this country’s ancient history. Indian ancestors visited different lands beyond and departed the same values to Japan, Korea, Indonesia and many other countries, he added.
“We are following the same tradition today even,” asserted the RSS chief referring the examples of how during the Covid-19 crisis Bharat served humanity by sending vaccines to different countries and also it stood with Srilanka during her worst ever economic crisis. The Sarsanghchalak emphasized how the RSS since five generations with the help of dedicated Swayamsevaks doing the national reconstruction work since 1925.
He said that Sangh is not just another organisation working for making the organisation itself strong, but the real mission is to make this society organised in order to make Bharat attain her all round development. To achieve it, he said, Swayamsevaks learn certain disciplines from the working methodology that is in the Shakha working. The Sangh’s orientation is to deepen it into one’s own habit by doing it on a daily basis.
In presence of many educationists, intellectuals, community leaders, spiritual & social luminaries, Bhagwat analysed that if Bharat becomes powerful and prosperous, each Bharatiya will become resourceful. He asked the audience from different walks of life to analyse RSS not from distances but by direct observation. Bhagwat’s two day Meghalaya visit will come to an end on Monday after a series of meetings with Sangh functionaries and socio-cultural leadership.
