At a time when the Place of Worship Act, 1991, has been challenged in court and many lawsuits have been filed over the ownership of mosques, mausoleums and dargahs, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that a new communal dispute should not be allowed to be taken up every day. Referring to the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya, he slammed those who in his words, think that they can become leaders of Hindus by raking up such issues.

Political observers believe the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sang thinks that this is not the right time to further escalate the Hindu-Muslim tensions.

They think the Hindutva outfit wants to maintain peace and communal harmony also because there is no immediate need for polarlising the society as some state assemblies will go to polls in 2026 before the next general elections are held in 2029.

Earlier, referring to the Gyanvapi mosque controversy in Kashi, Mohan Bhagwat asked “why look for a ‘shivlinga’ in every mosque?”

Mohan Bhagwat Bats For Inclusiveness

Speaking at ‘India- The Vishwaguru’ programme in Pune, the RSS chief also advocated for an inclusive society and said that the world should be shown how a country can live together in harmony.

He said that the people in India have been living in harmony for a long time. He added, “If we want to provide this harmony to the world, we need to create a model of it.”

Without going into specifics, “Every day, a new matter (dispute) is being raked up. How can this be allowed?”

He went to the extent of declaring that this cannot continue and added that India needs to show that it can live together.

Change In RSS’ Stance?

Earlier, the RSS chief tried to justify the sharp rise in communal tensions and mob impunity over the past few years by saying that the Hindus have been at war for centuries.

Talking to “Organiser” a mouthpiece of the Hindutva, outfit, he said, “Hindu society has “been at war for over 1000 years – this fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign influence and foreign conspiracies.”

Justifying the aggression, he said, “And it is because of all these that the Hindu society has awakened. It is but natural for people those at war to be aggressive.”

The person who almost justified the aggression of Hindus has now come forward to talk about inclusiveness, harmony in the society and protection of the minorities.

Change Of Stance On Minorities

Rejecting the idea of minorities, Mohan Bhagwat asked, who is a minority and who is a majority? He said that everyone is equal here.

In what may be called a bid to assure the minorities of their right to freedom of religion, he said that the tradition of this nation is all can follow their own forms of worship.

Empasising on maintaining the communal harmony, he said that the only requirement is to live in harmony and abide by rules and laws.

RSS Enters Centenary Year

Political analysts believe the RSS wants to improve its image by sending good signals and keeping itself out of any controversy as it entered its centennary year on October 12, 2024.

Mohan Bhagwat’s assertion that a new dispute on a religious site should not be allowed to be taken up every day has come at a time after the Supreme Court issued a nationwide directive on October 12 and asked all courts not to entertain fresh suits or pass orders related to the ownership of a religious place.

Place Of Worship Act Challenges

The Supreme Court order came after Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta, filed a petition in a court in Ajmer, demanding that the dargah be declared a Hindu temple “and if it has a registration, it should be canceled, an ASI survey should be conducted, and that Hindus should be permitted to pray”.

The court issued notices to the Archaeological Survey of India and the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.

In a separate incident, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filed a separate petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 2, 3, 4 of the Place of Worship Act. He argued that these sections not only offend the Articles of the Constitution but also violate the principles of secularism.

Does the RSS want to cool down the community-charged atmosphere after the elections for four state assemblies are over? Does it want to create an atmosphere of tranquility and ease so that Narendra Modi-led government focuses on governance?