Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said Hindu spiritual ‘gurus’ in the southern parts of the country had done more ‘service’ work in India than the Christian missionaries.
Mr. Bhagwat was speaking during the inauguration of Seva Sangam of Rashtriya Seva Bharati — the service wing of RSS — in Jaipur which was attended by around 3,000 representatives of more than 800 voluntary service organisations from across India along with Ajay Gopikisan Piramal, chairman of the Piramal Group.
“When we say service, most of the intellectual people of the country generally take the name of missionaries. Missionary organisations run various institutions, schools and hospitals all over the world — everyone knows this. But the service work done by the Hindu spiritual gurus in the southern parts of the country is much more than that of the missionaries,” said the RSS chief.
Mr. Bhagwat, who spoke after spiritual leader Umesh Das Nath, chief of Valmiki Dham in Ujjain, said whatever Mr. Das had spoken was “very clear and true”. Without clearly mentioning about which part of his speech Mr. Bhagwat was supporting, the RSS chief added that the society would have to think about what Mr. Das had said and make the surroundings the way he suggested.
‘Internal infiltration’
Meanwhile, Mr. Das, in his speech, said that it was not just outside infiltrations but even internal infiltration had ruined India.
“Now, the sound of conch shells and bells has stopped. What we hear is “azan” barging in our ears through loudspeakers, five times a day,” he added.
Speaking further on Missionaries, the RSS chief noted that national service along with national security should be the utmost priority of every Indian.
“The Missionary practice always tried to circumscribe the efforts of Indian culture, but there has been several examples where the Indian saints proved them wrong,” Mr. Bhagwat said, adding that he was not comparing anyone’s service as it was not measurable.
Speaking about Rajasthan’s ‘Ghumantu’, popularly known as ‘ Banjara’ tribe, Mr. Bhagwat mentioned that there had been several unprivileged tribal sections who were deprived of the basic right to practice their culture during the colonial era. He said it was a matter to regret that even after Independence they failed to get any recognition in our society due to lack of government documents.
“By the grace of god, the Sangh came to know about these section and since then we have been working hard to establish a cultural right and rehabilitate them,” Mr. Bhagwat noted.
Lauding the efforts of the RSS for working tirelessly for the upliftment of the lesser fortunate and underprivileged sections of the society, Mr. Piramal said the Sangh family had always provided the first line of service in every crisis.
Basant Jindal, associated with Sewa Sangam, said Rashtriya Seva Bharati had provided employment to more than 25,000 people last year. Along with this, the organisation was continuously working in areas such as efficiency, health, skill development and women empowerment. Rashtrya Sewa Bharati is an organisation that encourages and supports voluntary organisations serving the deprived, needy, neglected and suffering brothers and sisters.
