“From west of Kabul to east of Chindwin river, from the slope of Tibet’s east, that is, China, and from west of Sri Lanka, the entire stretch has the same DNA in humans since 40,000 years,” Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said at an event organised by the organisation in Surguja in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
Mr. Bhagwat, in the tribal majority region of Chhattisgarh, also said that “all those living in India are Hindus” and “everyone must respect each others’ way of worship”.
“Today’s science talks about DNA mapping. Today, we may feel that we are different, we are like this or like that... But even science says that our ancestors are same since 40,000 years and those ancestors have taught us that we all have our own style of worship, language, food habits, and we must stick to our original fabric,” Mr. Bhagwat said.
He added that, “no one should try to change the way of pooja (worship) of others”; and the “way of worship must be respected”.
“Even the Supreme Court says nothing should happen with force.... there is no need for it,” he added, while addressing a crowd consisting of members of tribal communities from the nearby region.
Mr. Bhagwat also said the Supreme Court in one of its judgments has said “Hinduism is not a religion or sect but way of life of Indians”.
“We have been telling since 1925 that everyone living in India is a Hindu. All those who consider India as their motherland and respect its culture and diversity and make efforts in this direction, irrespective of whatever religion, culture, language and food habit and ideology they follow, are Hindus,” Mr. Bhagwat said.
On the RSS’s critics, Mr. Bhagwat said that no one had to accept what RSS volunteers said about the organisation, and requested “everyone to come to [the RSS] shakha [branch] and witness the truth”.
“We play kabaddi but we are not a sports organisation. We sing songs but we are not a music organisation. We do exercise and Yoga but we are not an organisation for physical activity. We do use sticks and learn fighting but we are not a military organisation, as termed by many. I would request, you come to a shakha to know what is RSS,” Mr. Bhagwat said.
