One-Sided Efforts For Harmony In Society Will Not Work: RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat

The unique identity of the Muslim community had been safe in the country for decades, said Mohan Bhagwat.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said India had preserved Muslim traditions and ways of worship for centuries, and that the unique identity of members of the community had been safe in the country for decades, despite some people stressing on the differences.

He said the "baggage of the past, combined with the ego of some", was preventing Hindu-Muslim communities from showing their oneness, and while dialogue was the only way forward, it was also important for everyone to "not stress on a separate identity and accept the national identity as the unifier."

Mr Bhagwat was addressing the closing ceremony of a training camp at the headquarters in Nagpur of the RSS, which is the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP. "The emotional integration of communities in the country will come only with the understanding that we have been one for centuries, despite differences," he said.

"There were communities that came here from other places. We fought with them then, but they are gone now. Baharwale sab chale gaye, ab sab andarwale hai. (There are only insiders now), So we must live, forgetting the links with outsiders. Everyone here is part of us. If there is any difference in their thinking, we must talk to them. India's unity is paramount and everyone should work towards that," he said.