New York:
“Unity and diversity are in the DNA of both Bharat (India) and the United States of America,” Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said in New York City on Saturday, drawing an equivalence between the two countries. He said “plurality” is a word often used in the context of the US. “And when we say Bharat. Another phrase is discussed: unity in diversity. This unity and this diversity, both are in their DNA,” he said, addressing a gathering at Madison Square Garden.
The event, titled ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’, was organised by a group called American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue or AHEAD.
“Nations are not merely geographical entities. In the design of this universe, nations have to carry out a duty,” Bhagwat said further, in a rather philosophical speech. “Swami Vivekananda said, every nation has a destiny to fulfill. What is the destiny given to Bharat? Bharat is there to realise, and from time to time make the world realise, this unity in diversity. [That] we are one. And due to diversity, that oneness is decorated.”
He asserted, “Diversity has to be celebrated, has to be respected, has to be accepted. And, at the same time, we must keep in mind this feeling of oneness.” He said the many languages and religions make people think we are all different. “We are different, scientifically… Each of us has to take his meals separately. If I am not hungry, [that] doesn’t mean you are not hungry… That is the material fact of the world. But there is innate oneness.”
Citing Examples From Animal Kingdom
He said even animals have that feeling of unity, “but they will never act upon that because they are not free to do that; they are bound by natural instincts and natural requirements”. He said animals “do not know what they are, why they are born; don’t know why they will die”.
“[Animals] only know that once I am born, I have to live till my death. And if I live, I will be hungry, so I have to eat,” he said.
That’s different, he explained, from how humans live: “Only human beings can think. And they think that if I am full today, tomorrow again I will be hungry, so let me take this [food], store it in my house and eat it tomorrow.”
But there is another rider to that, he said: “Human beings can think… But in what way do you think? That is important. If you think in the right way, you go nearer to God. If you think in the wrong way, you go nearer to the animal kingdom.”
On ‘What About Muslims’
At another event in the city earlier in the day, Bhagwat asserted there is no difference between human beings and that various religious paths lead to the same goal. At the ‘One World One Humanity’ event, he made the remarks while recalling his conversation with a group of Muslims who asked him about Hindutva. “If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu. If you want to call yourself Hindu, you must believe that all paths are leading to the same goal and that every human has dignity. There is no difference between human beings,” he said.
The 75-year-old said “politics has now become a game of self-interest” and noted that in the RSS “we only give, don’t want anything”.
“In publicity matters, we are way behind… Politics today, especially in a democracy, depends on the public view. If there is public opinion, then no politician will dare to go against it. Therefore, I think after taking a common resolve today, we have to act in these societies, and we have to act first locally,” he said.
On the Muslim question, he mentioned work done by RSS volunteers after the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision.
“Two planes collided over Haryana, which is part of Bharat, over the place named Dadri. Both were from Arab countries. Most of the passengers were Muslims. After that collision, our Swayamsevaks reached there first, and they served. Served in treating the injured. All others were dead. Recovering their bodies, arranging for the funeral rites when their relatives come, helping them in identifying, we never thought at that time that ‘these are Muslims’,” he said. He was apparently referring to what’s considered the worst mid-air collision in aviation history, from 1996, that left all 349 passengers and crew dead. The disaster involved a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight and the other from the Kazakhstan state carrier.
Bhagwat, on a US tour that’ll see multiple events, has faced criticism from Zohran Mamdani, New York’s first Indian-American and Muslim mayor, who has termed the RSS, the ideological fount of India’s ruling BJP, a communal organisation. Mamdani said at a recent event ahead of Bhagwat’s visit, “The vision of India that I was taught by my family… was of a pluralistic society, of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person.”
Referring to the RSS and BJP, he added, “It has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision.”
