Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday (local time) that the ‘Bharatiya diaspora’ must remain loyal to their ‘karma bhumi’, which is their country of residence, but asserted that they must carry the values imparted by their ‘janma bhumi’.
Speaking at the Universal Oneness Celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York, Bhagwat said the ‘Bharatiya diaspora’ must fulfil their responsibilities towards their ‘karma bhumi’ first before they develop any desire to contribute to their ‘janma bhumi’.ย
However, it is not an obligatory, he clarified.
“What is our duty? We are in America, we live in America, we earn in America. So we are American. And we should behave true to America. The diaspora, Bharatiya diaspora, they have a duty to their karma bhumi. They must fulfil that. They should be loyal to their karma bhumi,” he said.
In his remarks, the RSS chief also highlighted that Bharat’s DNA is embedded with ‘unity in diversity’ and said that India must show the world that diversity can coexist with oneness. He also invoked Swami Vivekananda and said that nations are not just geographical entities and have a larger mission to accomplish and a destiny to fulfil.
“I have come here from Nagpur in Bharat to share with you today’s joy and today’s spirit. When we say United States of America, one word is often discussed frequently. That is pluralism. And when we say Bharat, another phrase is discussed: unity in diversity. For Bharat, this unity and this diversity, both are in their DNA,” Bhagwat said.
RSS chief’s message on Muslims
In another event in New York, the RSS chief said he will not remain a Hindu if Hindus feel that there should be no Muslims in Bharat, adding that it is the tradition of the country to give a shelter to everybody. He said Bharat has always provided a shelter to those who could not find a safe place in the world.
Speaking at the One World: One Humanity Faith Leaders’ Summit in New York earlier in the day, he said RSS believes that world humanity is one and it is the duty of the organisation “to go all over the world and tell everybody that, in spite of diversities, we are one”.
Bhagwat, who arrived in the US on Tuesday as part of the RSS centenary-year global outreach programme, said the organisation does not discriminate between anyone and is serving everyone whoever is in need.
“Muslim brothers asked me a question: You are a Hindu organisation, you see Hindu Rashtra, what about us Muslims? Would you drive us out? I said, no, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslims in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu,” he said.
“Where there is ‘me’ and ‘mine’, there is no solution. ‘We’ and ‘ours’ is the solution,” he added.
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