Bengaluru: On Saturday, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) lent credence to protests and dissent by Indian Gen Z, adding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to the younger generation in his Independence Day speech at the Red Fort.
“Opposition protests and public movements are legitimate, but they must be conducted while keeping the larger interests of the country in mind,” RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said, while delivering a speech at the Mahal office in Nagpur.
He added that people may have different opinions and interpretations, but there must be a shared commitment towards the nation. The statements come amid growing strain between the centre and a significant section of young people, who have been questioning the Union and state governments over contentious student-related issues, including the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led protests in Jantar Mantar.
Bhagwat reiterated the RSS stand that agitating Gen Z protestors are not anti-national, which is in contrast to the position of a significant section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members who have hinted at the presence of ‘foreign forces’ backing the CJP protests.
Referring to the Ashoka Chakra, Bhagwat said its spokes point in different directions even though it originates from the same centre point. He added that India’s diversity of languages, castes, communities and viewpoints should not become a source of harm or strain to the constitution.
He also said that opposing viewpoints are central to democracy. The RSS chief, however, said that there were forces impeding India’s trajectory towards becoming a ‘Vishwaguru’.
“However, many people and forces are working against this goal and stand in our way. Without abandoning our principles, we must face these challenges across the world and make India a nation that serves as ‘Vishwaguru’, a guide to the world,” Bhagwat said Saturday.
He added that India has a responsibility to help restore balance to a world that has adopted an incomplete vision, focused on material progress, and limited vision. “India’s global standing would rise when the country itself became prosperous, secure and respected,” he said.
He added that if India effectively utilises its demographic dividend, it would help the youth to not think about their own future but also that of the next generation. The RSS chief also urged the younger generation to take the lead, embrace entrepreneurship and work to preserve the country’s unity. He added that “India should not compare itself mechanically with countries such as the United States, China, Australia, or New Zealand; the country’s development model must be shaped by its own population, geography, culture and aspirations”.
Bhagwat further said that youngsters should have the courage to take risks and convert those into successes as Independence Day is a “subject of pride and celebration for all of us”.
“If we count from 1857, then continuously over 90 years, our ancestors attained freedom through various kinds of sacrifices and self-offerings. The pride of that sacrifice and self-offering resides in our hearts. But along with this, there must also be a realization in our minds that this freedom was attained by us through so much sacrifice and effort; it is our responsibility to preserve that freedom,” he said.
The RSS chief also invoked Vinayak Damodar Savarkar by saying that India’s freedom should bring Indians to the best things possible like greatness, dignity and happiness and the entire nation should enjoy it as a whole.
(Edited by Pakhi Khare)
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