A senior RSS leader today favoured exposing children studying in madarsas to stories of patriotic Muslim personalities to make them love the country "as is required" and urged religious leaders from the community to take an initiative in this regard.
"They (children) should be given proper basic training. Children should be taught to love this country, exposed to the life stories of people like Bahadur Shah Zafar. It is required now. Hence, I will appeal the Maulanas, Imams and Maulvis to come forward.
"They (Maulvis) should make teaching like loving your nation a part of the training so that when a child gets out of madarsa he or she is patriotic, nationalist and also one understanding Islam," RSS leader Indresh Kumar said.
Kumar, who is also the patron of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, made the remarks on the sidelines of an event in the national capital recently.
The leader said "radical" elements should start thinking over the issue from humanitarian and developmental angles as such teaching "is required now".
"It is the requirement of today and it should be fulfilled. This should be done amicably, not through conflicts. Madarsas should contribute to spreading awareness of nationality among children," he added.
Kumar said the issue should not be politicised but looked at from the points of view of development and harmony.
He also urged the BJP-led NDA government to strengthen Madarsa Education Board.
Hosabale said AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi was an "anti-
national" as he said he would not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', a slogan not coined by RSS but during the freedom struggle.
Asked if one was a 'traitor' by not chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', he said, "Of course, he is an anti-national... All the political leaders except Owaisi's party opposed what he said."
"If someone says he/she does not want to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' at all, you are not allowing others also to not chant the slogan....If anybody says so, he is anti-national."
He said 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' are not RSS slogans, but coined during freedom struggle and it is not required that these should be chanted all the time or every morning "but there is nothing wrong in saying it".
On beef eating, the RSS leader said one should respect the sensibilities of others too.
"Can't you live without beef, can't you respect the sensibilities of majority and respect feelings of other people also? Beef eating has not been acceptable in this country. Mahatma Gandhi was also against beef eating, he did not become communal, but RSS is communal," he said.
The RSS leader expressed concern that anti-national activities are being spread in campuses in the country.
"Why anti-India feelings are being expressed in university campuses? If some students are raising slogans for breaking India into pieces and its destruction, if they raise slogans in favour of a criminal who has been hanged as per the law of the land, any nation in the world will not tolerate it. In India, being anti-national is not acceptable," he said.
On why women are not there in RSS, he said, "It is only in field activities in public that women are not there, but in all other activities women are there. RSS is not averse to the idea of women participation in physical activities in RSS shakhas. It can happen... A day will come sooner than later. We are taking our own time for all this, anything can happen.
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He also rejected the theory that RSS did not participate
in the freedom struggle saying one should read history properly.
"RSS did not participate in the freedom struggle is a baseless statement."
On reservation, he said, "It is not the right time to do away with caste-based reservation. We support reservation till discrimination in society exists," but called for a review by eminent people who understand society.
He also said that RSS was changing as per changing times while referring to the change in uniform.
"Changing according to time is the essential thing of Hindutva itself," he said.
He added that those people who are taking birth in this country are Hindus because "this is Hindustan and the fear of Hindutva is created because of wrong understanding or deliberate intentions".
"Hindutva as we say is that it is Hinduness and not Hinduism. Radhakrishnan has said he practiced the Hindu way of life and I am proud of it, and he is not communal. Mahatma Gandhi said I am a proud Hindu, but he is not communal," Hosabale said.
"I don't know why people are afraid of hearing words like Hindutva, Hinduism or Hinduness, because Hindus are never aggressive in entire history of mankind. They have not enslaved anyone on any part of the world. It is only a few created on wrong interpretations or wrong intentions," he said.
He said RSS's vision 2020 is for an India which is united and one which prosperous, "a Bharat which takes pride in its culture and heritage".
