Bhagwat Tells New York Audience RSS Seeks Public Opinion, Not Political Power
· India · Times of India, News18
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, speaking at the "Universal Oneness Celebration" at the Infosys Theatre in Madison Square Garden, New York, on Saturday, said politics had become "a game of self-interest" and that lasting change must begin in society, not in electoral contests. He argued that strong public opinion is what forces governments to act, adding that the RSS wanted to influence policy, prevent conflicts and "stop wars" without first seeking political power. Bhagwat said a Hindu who wanted India without Muslims "will not remain Hindu", recalling that he had given the same assurance to Muslims during a 2018 Delhi lecture series, and stated that Hindu thought requires acceptance of different paths leading to the same truth. He cited the RSS's 1.3 lakh service projects and said aid is given without religious discrimination, while acknowledging that dialogue with Muslims and Christians had produced slow results. Bhagwat also framed the organisation's growth over its 100-year journey as a r
Why it matters
The speech is the RSS's clearest articulation yet, on a foreign stage, of a society-first political strategy at a time when the BJP-led government is in power, and it sets out the Sangh's terms for Hindu-Muslim relations directly to an international audience that influences India's diplomatic narrative. Indian minority communities, opposition parties and diplomats tracking the RSS's global outreach will read this as a signal of how the organisation plans to position itself ahead of India's domes
Read the original report — Times of India
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