From Our Correspondent
“Misconceptions and apprehensions that are there in the minds of the Muslims about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) can be removed through dialogues”, said the Akhil Bharatiya Sahsampark Pramukh of the RSS, Indresh Kumar. He was addressing the Muslim intellectuals of Madhya Pradesh at a function organised by the Malwa Muslim Vikas Parishad in Indore, recently.
Shri Indresh Kumar, however, warned that there were certain elements in society that did not want peace and harmony to prevail in the country. He said that both the communities should try to persuade their fundamentalist leaders to come to the table for dialogues. “Everybody in the country is identified by his own country and not by his religion. Insistence on religious identity makes one fundamentalist while attachment to the country makes one patriotic. Both the parties need to sit together to remove their misconceptions”, he said. He appealed to the Muslim intellectuals to unite in the fight against separatist alien forces that wanted to bring about a rift among different communities. Muslims should not consider the RSS their enemy, he said. He cautioned the Muslim community to beware of the Communists and the so-called Human Rightists who did not care for peace and brotherhood in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, the renowned journalist and columnist Muzaffar Hussain said that the RSS had worked as a bridge between Hindus and Muslims. He congratulated the Muslim intellectuals who had adopted the path of dialogue. Dialogue alone is the solution to all conflicts, he added.
Mohammad Afzal, president of My Hindustan, a Delhi-based social organisation, said Muslims must make efforts to remove certain misconceptions which they have about the RSS.
Dr Tahir while praising the RSS for the discipline it maintains in its cadres, emphasised the need for imparting modern education to the Muslim children. “We have never betrayed the country. India was our country, is our country and will always remain our country. What we lack today is dialogue with our Hindu brethren. We should show this path to those also who have been misguided by anti-national forces”, Dr Tahir said.
Dr Syed Asif Ali Zafari, Dr Nizamuddin, Ajiz Indori and Dr Farouqui also spoke on the occasion.
The Muslim intellectuals, in a resolution, supported the move on the part of the Madhya Pradesh Government led by Chief Minister, Uma Bharati, to completely ban cow-slaughter in the State. They urged the State Government to implement the ban forthwith. The resolution also urged the State Government to make registration of birth, death and marriage compulsory for Muslims. Welcoming the Centre’speace efforts with Pakistan, the Muslim intellectuals extended their full support to its action against terrorism.
