Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said recent attempts to defame the Sangh by linking it with terror groups were in fact a conspiracy to malign the entire Hindu “samaj” (society). This, he said, posed a danger to the country's unity and integrity.
Mr. Bhagwat said not only would the RSS face the challenge but also fight it in court and even go to the people. “The RSS will ensure that these forces (read Congress) are given a befitting reply,” he said.
Addressing an RSS dharna at Bal Sangrahalaya ground near Char Bagh railway station here, Mr. Bhagwat said the tendency to defame the Sangh even 60 years after independence has to end. Describing dharna and demonstration as alien to the RSS, he said it was decided by the Sangh executive that a beginning had to be made as it could no longer afford to remain silent on the conspiracy to brand it a terror organisation. Mr. Bhagwat said it was decided that the people have to be told the truth.
According to Mr. Bhagwat, the propaganda about alleged involvement of one of its senior functionaries, Indresh Kumar, in the Ajmer bomb blast case served as the flashpoint. Terming the allegations against Mr. Kumar as baseless, he said it is quite possible that the Sangh functionary has been framed despite the fact that he has not been named as an accused in the charge-sheet filed by the Rajasthan ATS.
Stating that the Sangh was opposed to terrorism and violence, Mr. Bhagwat rejected the charge that the accused in some bomb blast cases were associated with the RSS. He said the Sangh is a law-abiding organisation and added that those behind the move to defame the RSS were interested in vote politics by dividing the society. It was vote politics that had scuttled the possibility of an amicable solution to the Ayodhya dispute in the light of the Allahabad High Court verdict. Mr. Bhagwat accused the Congress of espousing the Muslim cause on the Ayodhya issue and said the “divide and rule policy” of the British is still being pursued.
The entire Uttar Pradesh BJP top brass, including State unit chief Surya Pratap Shahi, Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma, Kalraj Mishra and Ramapati Ram Tripathi were present at the dharna.
