New Delhi: In what’s being seen as a “crucial” development by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries as well as Muslim organisations and intellectuals, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited a mosque in Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg Wednesday to meet Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, chief imam of the All India Imam Organisation (AIIO), at the AIIO’s office inside the mosque, ThePrint has learnt.
This is Bhagwat’s first visit to a mosque, according to sources in both the RSS and Muslim organisations reached by ThePrint, and follows the RSS chief engaging with a group of five Muslim intellectuals, including former chief election commissioner S. Y. Quraishi, former Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung and senior journalist Shahid Siddiqui, in Delhi last month. Siddiqui is also the national vice president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Speaking to ThePrint about their discussion, Quraishi said, “It was a great initiative. We discussed that both sides have to address their respective communities and request them to respect each other. Bhagwat ji raised issues of Hindus being called Kafir, which Hindus generally see as an abuse. Muslims call a non-believer kafir. But we told him that it is grossly wrong and should be stopped.”
Bhagwat also raised the issue of cow slaughter, which is banned in many states in the country, said the former chief election commissioner. “We agreed on that and said that the law should take its own course in these cases,” Quraishi said.
According to Quraishi, he and Siddiqui raised the issue of Muslims in the country being routinely “vilified” and referred to as “Pakistani”, “jihadist” and “terrorists”. The group also spoke about the need to control fringe elements who “attack Muslims and lynch them”, he added — a reference to the lynchings of Muslims that have occurred in the past few years, often on the suspicion of beef consumption or cattle smuggling.
Now Bhagwat’s visit to the mosque and his meeting with the imam brings “hope” of a reconciliation between the communities and resolving of “conflicts”, Quraishi told The Print.
Bhagwat’s visit to the mosque is significant as it follows a speech made by him in June in Nagpur, where he had asked RSS cadres and affiliates to stop looking for a “Shivling” under every mosque.
This statement came in the midst of the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque controversy, and some Hindutva organisations claiming that many mosques were built by demolishing temples during the Islamic invasion of the country.
Bhagwat had been invited to a mosque in Lucknow in 2016, and though he had initially agreed to it, the visit eventually never happened.
However, K.S. Sudarshan, the RSS chief between 2000 and 2009, had visited a mosque, said a senior RSS functionary. In 2012, a little over a month before his death, Sudarshan had reportedly wished to offer namaz at a Bhopal mosque on the occasion of Eid, but was stopped by those in his retinue.
Talking about Wednesday’s visit, the functionary added, “Bhagwat ji was invited by the organisation. Imam Ilyasi has his office there and he lives inside. So Bhagwat ji and other senior functionaries went to the mosque to meet the organisation chief and the members.”
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‘Sangh works among all’
Bhagwat’s meeting with Quraishi and the others took place on 22 August, and according to a senior RSS functionary, came after the group of intellectuals sought an appointment with him in July.
The functionary further added that the intellectuals had flagged certain concerns related to minorities to Bhagwat, and also sought a regular platform for dialogue to discuss these issues.
While senior RSS functionaries termed last month’s meeting “informal”, they agreed that it was one of many such attended by Bhagwat in recent times, and forms part of an initiative called ‘Samvad’ or dialogue.
“The Sangh works among all, and keeps connecting with people. Bhagwat ji always connects to organisations, intellectuals and people from all communities to strengthen our relation with the people,” Sunil Ambekar, the RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh, told ThePrint.
A second senior functionary added that last month’s meeting was not Bhagwat’s first such dialogue with Muslim intellectuals.
“Bhagwat ji and other senior functionaries keep meeting groups from all faiths and communities. We met groups of Christians and Muslims earlier too. We work in the field, and we always keep our connection with the people; there are no boundaries or limitations,” said the functionary.
He added: “We meet everyone who is part of Bharat. We did not share the details of the meeting now being mentioned (last month’s meeting), because it was never about publicity. It was always about opening a channel of discussion and addressing concerns. Both sides put their views and issues forward.”
According to the functionary, there were many issues which the RSS sarsanghchalak and the intellectuals flagged to each other.
“We always want a dialogue. They spoke about Muslims being vilified and we raised issues like unabated and rampant cow slaughter. We both agreed that all communities have to abide by the rule of law. Cow slaughter is banned in (many states). It hurts Hindu sentiments. We have to stay together as Indians, and should not be influenced by divisive and foreign forces,” he added.
Siddiqui, who had been a part of the Muslim delegation which met Bhagwat last month, also spoke positively of the RSS chief’s interactions with Muslims in the past two months.
“We are very happy to see that Bhagwat ji has been trying to engage with the community leaders. He today met Ilyasi sahab in the mosque, this gives us hope. Last month we apprised him of the general insecurity Muslims have in their mind. There is an atmosphere of fear, polarisation and toxicity. This should end. We should not lose trust in each other,” said Siddiqui.
He added: “There are extremists and fringe elements on both sides. We should try to control them by addressing them. The RSS is a large organisation — they can do this in a more effective way. The name-calling should stop too. He mentioned jihad, but there is no jihad (in India). Indian Muslims are largely different and peaceful in comparison to global Muslim communities.”
A third functionary, meanwhile, said that the RSS was working on a system to have such dialogues between communities and the organistaions at regular intervals.
“We are working on a four-member team, that will keep meeting organisations and we can flag and address concerns. We have to go by the Hindu way of life of staying together as Indians,” he added.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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