RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Tuesday said India is already a “Hindu Rashtra”, which is a “cultural concept” that does not need to be established by the Constitution.
On the conclusion of the three-day meeting of Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) at Haryana’s Panipat district, the RSS General Secretary also said the Sangh does not approve of “same sex marriage”, saying marriage can only take place between persons of opposite genders.
He also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his critical comments against Indian democracy and said he should be speaking “more responsibly”.
“About Hindu Rashtra, we have been saying for the last 100 years that it’s a cultural concept, not theoretical,” he said, while replying to a question on the issue at a Press conference
“State and nation are two different things. A State is that which is established by the Constitution. It is State power,” he said.
“Nation is a cultural concept. Bharat is already a Hindu Rashtra. It doesn’t need to be made a Hindu Rashtra (by law),” he added.
“We are already a Hindu nation,” he said conclusively.
Claiming that many have tried to “distort” the history of India and Hindutva over the years, the RSS has resolved to speed up measures to bring a change in the narrative and restore the country’s prestige.
He accepted that there are “some drawbacks in our society like untouchability.”
On the same sex marriage, Hosabale said his organisation agrees with the Centre’s view on same-sex marriage and maintained that marriage could only take place between persons of opposite genders.
The Centre has opposed in the Supreme Court a batch of petitions seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages, claiming they will cause a “complete havoc” with the delicate balance of personal laws and accepted societal values.
On Monday, the Supreme Court referred the pleas seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages to a five-judge constitution bench for adjudication, saying it is a “very seminal issue”.
The RSS General Secretary said that in Hindu way of life “marriage is a samskar not enjoyment or a contract where two individuals live together, establish family for betterment of the society and not for the self only.”
On Rahul’s critical and controversial comments abroad on the Indian democracy and the RSS, Hosabale recalled the imposition of emergency by the Congress when he said, “I and many others went to Jail”, and questioned his ethical right
to speak about Indian democracy.
The RSS leader also said that while the Congress was speaking about weakening democracy in India, his own party has won in some States. Hosabale said the Congress leader should be expressing himself “more responsibly”. “He is going by his agenda,” he added and went on to say that Rahul’s forefathers too had attacked the RSS.
In London, Rahul recently had termed the RSS a “fundamentalist organisation” that has changed the nature of the democratic contest in India by capturing the country’s institutions.
On another question, the RSS leader said Sangh is not thinking of bringing women in the “Sakhas” where many sports activities are conducted by men.
Hosabale said the RSS meeting discussed ways to bring “social harmony” as also need to bring “population imbalance” in the country.
By the centenary year in 2025 the RSS has set the aim of expanding ‘Sakhas’ to one lakh and preparations for that have begun, he said.
