RSS Will Accept Supreme Court’s Ayodhya Verdict: Mohan Bhagwat

Source – thewire.in

New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said that his organisation would be bound by the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid issue in Ayodhya. Bhagwat was speaking at an event organised by India Foundation, where ambassadors and diplomatic officials from about 50 countries were in attendance. Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha moderated the interaction.

The Supreme Court is set to hold the final hearing in the dispute from December 5, a day before 25th anniversary of the Babri masjid demolition.

According to sources at the meeting, Bhagwat also said that he had “good contact” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had “independent discussions” on a range of issues with him.

Bhagwat also said that his organisation does not believe in trolling on social media. According to a tweet by Prasar Bharati chief A. Surya Prakash, Bhagwat said: “Trolling amounts to hitting below the belt. We don’t support those who display such aggressive nature”.

A diplomat present at the event told the Indian Express, “When asked if he could see a resolution to the Ayodhya dispute by the next elections and whether he would consider it being a shared site, he replied that the Supreme Court would be ruling on the issue and the RSS would be bound by the order.”

In response to questions posed at the event relating to the RSS’s role in the government, a tweet by BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who is a director at India Foundation, quoted Bhagwat as saying, “Sangh doesn’t run BJP; BJP doesn’t run Sangh. As swayamsevaks, we consult and exchange notes but independent in functioning-Bhagwatji to diplomats.”

The Indian Express report said Bhagwat maintained that the RSS stayed away from politics but the government could be influenced by it as many of the ministers were part of the Sangh.

According to tweets by those who attended the event, Bhagwat said also spoke about Hinduism, “With time, we change. When someone says I am a Hindu it is not about religion or how one lives. It is about accepting others as they are. It is not about wearing this, eating this. That imposition is an ‘ism’. Hinduness is free from this ‘ism’. Hinduness is the ever changing quality of Hinduism.”