Dr. Krishna Gopal, Sahasarkaryavah of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh interacting with Muslim intellectuals in a program organized at India Islamic Cultural Centre. Harish Kumar
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Nemish Hemant, New Delhi. In an effort to bridge the gap with the Muslim society, senior officials of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh held an open dialogue with prominent Muslim intellectuals of the country at the India Islamic Cultural Centre. Sangh's Sahasarkaryawah Dr. Krishna Gopal has said that the solution to the thousands of years old problem lies in dialogue and not in confrontation. History cannot be forgotten, but its wounds can be healed with good conduct. This will not happen in a day, it will take a long time. The good thing is that we are moving forward. This should continue. It was organized by Inter Faith Harmony Foundation of India, in which around 50 intellectuals were present. Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi, former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung, General (retd) Zameeruddin Khan, industrialist Saeed Sherwani and other prominent people also put forth their views and questions. Organizer Khwaja Iftikhar Chaudhary presided. Dr. Referring to the Red Fort blast, Krishna Gopal said that the attraction of educated and professional youth towards radical ideology is a matter of serious concern. It is important to know who and which ideology is poisoning those mentalities. These phenomena are not diseases, but symptoms of the disease. The real problem lies in deep-seated mentalities, which need to be identified and eliminated. He has to stop, interrupt and watch.
Further underlining the difference between citizenship and nationalism, he said that merely being a citizen is not proof of being a nationalist. The question is whether we are proud of our thousands of years old culture and country. This question was asked by former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Aligarh Muslim University just a few months after independence. This question is for those few people, who are only five percent. The contribution of Muslim society to Indian music, literature, language and devotional tradition is noteworthy. The culture of the country has developed from the tradition of mutual acceptance and assimilation, which was harmed by some fundamentalist and separatist ideologies.
Ramlal, All India Contact Head of RSS, has said that some incidents have been happening in the country, linking them to the entire society or nation is neither fair nor satisfactory. There are some elements in every society who practice politics of provocation and reaction. He said, neither the Hindu society is a complete union nor the Muslim society is governed by any one ideology. It is injustice to link the entire society to one organization or individual. If we keep this in front then the dialogue will not reach a solution.
Ramlal clarified that this dialogue is not for the interest of the Sangh, but for the interest of the country. Only when the country is strong and united, will it be able to guide the world towards peace, harmony and terrorism-free future. Raising serious questions on the rumors and fake videos spreading on the internet media, he said that many times when the facts are examined, it is found that the incidents are either completely fake or are presented in an exaggerated manner.
Congress party has forced BJP to join the Sangh.
On the question of RSS's association with the ruling BJP, Ramlal said that why we support them (BJP) has a very simple answer. I meet a lot of Congress people. I tell them that as long as you keep abusing the Sangh, we will continue to support the BJP. Now stop abusing the Sangh, if you want support then that's fine. I tell Congress that you have made BJP a compulsion of Sangh. How will we support you if you abuse us every day?
Mention of Umar Khalid's bail and inflammatory statements in the dialogue
During the dialogue process, he expressed concern over Muslim intellectuals repeatedly raising questions on the patriotism of Muslims and expressed disappointment over the government not reacting promptly to communal incidents. Najeeb Jung described statements from the ruling party like Umar Khalid not getting bail even after five years and remembering the incidents of demolition of temples by Muslim oppressors as obstacles in the way of harmony.
Also read- What did Ramlal say about Muslim society in the RSS dialogue? Sangh's compulsion told to BJP; Gave special message to Congress