Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) head Mohan Bhagwat has sparked a national discussion by maintaining that India is naturally a Hindu country and thus constitutional acceptance is not necessary for such a definition. Musing on the RSS’s centenary ‘100 Vyakhyan Mala’ event in Kolkata, Bhagwat stated that India’s being a Hindu nation is a factual cultural truth that there will be as long as people love the country’s culture and remember their ancestors.
‘The Sun Rises In The East’ Mohan Bhagwat In Kolkata
He gave a metaphorical example to clarify his argument, asking rhetorically if one would need a constitutional decree to admit that ‘the sun rises in the east’ and highlighting his opinion that the Hindu identity of India is already reflected in its civilization ethos. Bhagwat continued to explain that the question of the Parliament amending the Constitution to officially declare India a Hindu nation does not affect his perception of things, as he interprets the country’s Hindu identity as being already manifested through history and culture. He invited people to come and see for themselves the work the RSS is doing at its shakhas branches and thus, let go of the false impression that the organization has developed an anti Muslim attitude. He stated that the RSS considers itself ‘firmly nationalist’ and although not being politically motivated, its priority is still on the advancement of a cultural unity based on what it calls Hindutva.
Mohan Bhagwat’s Claim Of ‘India is a Hindu nation, no constitutional approval needed’
The comments have stirred up a considerable amount of public and political responses, with the critics asserting that India’s Constitution declares the state to be secular and pluralistic, a statement which has been supported by opposition leaders and pundits who claim that the various religious and cultural identities of the nation cannot be merged into one religious category. Additionally, some critics have gone back to constitutional history and argued the importance of secularism as the fundamental principle of the Republic. Nevertheless, Bhagwat’s remarks have drawn ire, but they still mirror the country’s historical ideological disputes over cultural identity and the presence of civilizational narratives in the current inter-societal dialogue.
