New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) The Congress on Friday claimed that the RSS was fundamentally at odds with the idea of India, and despite the outfit’s “pretentious nationalism”, it desperately seeks acceptance abroad.
The Congress’s reaction came on a day Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said at an event in the US that the organisation was not an Indian version of the Ku Klux Klan, the American white supremacist group.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said while the RSS tried to show that it was no ‘Ku Klux Klan’, there is “abundant evidence” to show how it derived inspiration from European fascist movements.
“For all its pretentious nationalism, the RSS desperately seeks acceptance abroad,” Ramesh posted on X.
“Not content with hiring lobbyists (including those hired by Pakistan), its top ideologues were in the US recently on a PR offensive that fell flat and got caught in its own too-clever-by-half formulations,” he said.
Ramesh said that RSS ideologues were in the US when a Government of India delegation was also in Washington, DC, discussing the bilateral trade deal, which is “a steal by the US”.
“In fact, this was admitted as much in the interaction with the RSS,” he said in his post.
“The RSS tried to show that it was no Ku Klux Klan but there is abundant evidence to show how it derived inspiration from European fascist movements. The fact remains that it is an outfit that is fundamentally at odds with the very idea of an India deriving its unity through its diversities,” the Congress general secretary said.
Speaking at an interactive session at the Hudson Institute in Washington, Hosabale highlighted the organisation’s work across different spheres of society and said the RSS was not an Indian version of the Ku Klux Klan.
Hosabale said there are misconceptions about the RSS similar to misunderstandings about India in the US.
“The narrative that has been built for decades, knowingly or unknowingly as part of an agenda or otherwise, is that RSS is a Hindu supremacist organisation or that it is anti-Christian, anti-minority, anti-development and anti-modernisation,” he said during a discussion with author Walter Russell Mead on Thursday.
“So what is pro is not highlighted; instead, the anti has always been propagated… some Indian version of the Ku Klux Klan, which we are not,” Hosabale said.
He said Hindu philosophy and culture view the whole world as one family and do not endorse supremacy.
“We see oneness in everything, living and non-living. When that is the basic philosophy of Hindus, the question of a supremacist nature does not arise. Also, in history, Hindus have never invaded any country,” the RSS chief said.
Hosabale described RSS as a volunteer-driven movement rooted in India’s cultural and civilisational ethos. PTI SKC SKC SKY SKY
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