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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 10 May 2025

RSS REPEATS SAFETY SERMON FOR MINORITIES 

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FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Published 22.03.02, 12:00 AM
New Delhi, March 22 :    New Delhi, March 22:  The RSS today stuck to its resolution that minorities should earn the 'goodwill' of the majority community for their own security. Former sarsanghchalak K.S. Sudarshan defended the Sangh's stand at its first meeting with representatives of one of the minority communities since the resolution was passed at its annual meeting in Bangalore last week. He said the resolution had only made a 'statement of fact'. John Joseph, a member of the National Commission for Minorities, arranged the meeting between Sangh patriarchs and Christian leaders in Bangalore to convey the Christian community's 'deep sense of anguish' at the RSS resolution, which, he said, was tantamount to a threat against the minorities. 'The meeting was brief and it was not a dialogue,' said Donald D'Souza, deputy general secretary of the Catholic Bishop Conference of India. D'Souza said Christians are upset at the way the RSS is trying to create divisions among people and whip up hatred. 'We hope that the continued criticism of the resolution from all sections of the people will drive some good sense into the RSS,' he said. But Sudarshan held firm. 'We must have good relations with each other. Minorities must have good relations with the majority for their safety,' he said. The RSS leader dredged up names like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi to buttress his argument and also left open the issue of carrying the ashes of the Godhra victims to different parts of the country. Sudarshan claimed that during the Meenakshipuram conversions, Indira Gandhi had told a group of Muslim MPs they 'must learn to live with the majority community'. Jawaharlal Nehru also told students at Aligarh Muslim University that 'he was proud of our culture and they should feel the same pride about our ancestors', he added. The RSS, Sudarshan stressed, has not made any distinction between the majority and the minority communities. But 'those who call themselves minorities should cultivate good relations', he underlined. Even the BJP, which has been teetering between its ideological commitment and compulsions of running a coalition government, has refused to criticise the resolution, he pointed out.    
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