The event, titled ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’, was organised by a group called American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue or AHEAD.
“Unity and diversity are in the DNA of both countries, Bharat (India) and the United States of America,” Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said in New York City on Saturday, addressing a gathering at Madison Square Garden.
Politics today, especially in a democracy, depends on the public view. At the ‘One World One Humanity’ event, he made the remarks while recalling his conversation with a group of Muslims who asked him about Hindutva. “If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu. If you want to call yourself Hindu, you must believe that all paths are leading to the same goal and that every human has dignity. “In publicity matters, we are way behind… If there is public opinion, then no politician will dare to go against it. “Two planes collided over Haryana, which is part of Bharat, over the place named Dadri. Both were from Arab countries. Most of the passengers were Muslims. After that collision, our Swayamsevaks reached there first, and they served. Served in treating the injured. All others were dead. The disaster involved a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight and the other from the Kazakhstan state carrier. Bhagwat, on a US tour that’ll see multiple events, has faced criticism from Zohran Mamdani, New York’s first Indian-American and Muslim mayor, who has termed the RSS, the ideological fount of India’s ruling BJP, a communal organisation.
Therefore, I think after taking a common resolve today, we have to act in these societies, and we have to act first locally,” he said. On the Muslim question, he mentioned work done by RSS volunteers after the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision. He was apparently referring to what’s considered the worst mid-air collision in aviation history, from 1996, that left all 349 passengers and crew dead.
There is no difference between human beings,” he said. The 75-year-old said “politics has now become a game of self-interest” and noted that in the RSS “we only give, don’t want anything”. Recovering their bodies, arranging for the funeral rites when their relatives come, helping them in identifying, we never thought at that time that ‘these are Muslims’,” he said. Mamdani said at a recent event ahead of Bhagwat’s visit, “The vision of India that I was taught by my family… was of a pluralistic society, of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person.”
At another event in the city earlier in the day, Bhagwat asserted there is no difference between human beings and that various religious paths lead to the same goal.
