Preventing love jihad must begin at home: Bhagwat
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said the efforts to prevent ‘love Jihad’ must begin within families, stressing the need for communication, inculcation of awareness among women and collective social response.
Addressing the ‘Stri Shakti Samvad’ programme, a discussion on women’s role in society organised by the Sangh here, Bhagwat touched upon the issue of ‘love Jihad’, an RSS release said.
Notably, the term ‘love Jihad’ is used by right-wing groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into relationships and marriage to convert them to Islam.
Families must reflect on how a girl can be influenced by a stranger, Bhagwat said in this regard, and cited the lack of dialogue within households as a major reason, the release said.
Three levels of efforts — continuous communication within families, inculcating awareness among girls and teaching them to protect themselves, and effective action against those committing such crimes — were required, the release quoted the RSS chief as saying. Social organisations too must remain alert, and society should respond collectively so that a solution is found, he further said. Religion, culture and social order are secure because of women, Bhagwat said, and stressed the need for their empowerment, ideological orientation and greater participation in family and social life.
“The time has passed when women were confined to homes in the name of security,” he said, adding that families and society move forward through combined efforts of men and women, making the “prabodhan” (awakening, enlightenment) of both essential. The RSS’s Madhya Bharat ‘prant sanghchalak’ Ashok Pandey and ‘vibhag sanghchalak’ Somkant Umalakar were present on the dais during the programme.
Bhagwat further said that women play a central role in families as caregivers, and are crucial in maintaining balance, sensitivity and order. Women also carry the sense of ‘self’ from the family to society and the nation, he was quoted as saying.
He also noted that women constitute nearly half the population, and called for greater efforts to involve more women in social and national work.
Touching upon mental health, Bhagwat said it is important that no one in a family feels isolated. He advised against imposing unrealistic expectations on children and said a meaningful life is more important than success.
India is emerging from “mental slavery”, and the world is looking to the country (with expectations), Bhagwat said.
