New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has lent its support to Vivek Agnihotri’s film on the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, titled The Kashmir Files. The Sangh has called it a documentation of “historical reality” and said “these are facts that must be presented to generations as facts”.
Statements to this effect were made by Ram Madhav, member of the RSS’ National Executive Committee, and Arun Kumar, sahasarkaryavah (joint general secretary) of the organisation, at the launch of the book ‘Conflict Resolution, The RSS Way’ by Sangh ideologue Ratan Sharada and Yashwant Pathak. The book speaks about the RSS resolutions and how the organisation functioned in “resolving conflict” in areas like Kashmir, Punjab and the Northeast.
Ram Madhav called The Kashmir Files a documentation of “historical reality”. “People are talking about The Kashmir Files. These are facts, and these should be presented to generations as facts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Arun Kumar said: “The Kashmir Files now dominates the public discourse, the movie is being widely discussed and debated. The movie narrates the history of a period, 1991 to 1994. The RSS was doing several things in several dimensions during the period. The Sangh was spearheading the Kashmir Bachao movement in India.”
He added that the RSS is the organisation that was pushing the government to hand over Kashmir to the Army. “We felt that sena should be in charge of Kashmir. Hindus were terrorised there, RSS was helping Hindus fight back. We knew, if all Hindus leave Kashmir, then they (Pakistan) would win. Their agendas would be fulfilled,” he claimed.
“We were determined that we would ensure Hindus do not get disconnected from their native land, that is Kashmir. They had to run away temporarily, but they would return to their homeland,” Kumar added.
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‘Bringing Muslims & Christians close to RSS’
Ram Madhav said the Sangh had never considered “anyone as our enemy”. “They are all our brothers. We come from the same bloodline and ancestors. We want to reach out to them and bring them (Muslims, Christians) close to us, so that they do not see us as their opponents. They should not think that they are not one of us,” Madhav added.
Echoing this though, Kumar added that the RSS believes in ‘one country, one people’, and never wants to create division among people.
“There is an ecosystem running against us. They are not connected to ground, but we are. We can reach almost half the population in 10 days, that is the reach of the Sangh. People connect with us, and had we done anything wrong, this country would have rejected us. Storms come and go, they ravage some parts, but society rebuilds and things emerge stronger,” he added.
(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)
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