Sarsanghachalak interacts with academics in New Delhi

FDI in retail unacceptable.
It will deprive our people,
destroy farming

—MohanBhagwat?

“Our retail sector provides employment to crores of people and it is not strong enough to even compete with the Indian corporates like Reliance and Tata. Then, how can we expect it to face the economic might of multinational retailers like Walmart? Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi brand retail at the cost of our own people cannot be accepted at all. People fail to understand the undue haste in it,” said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat. He was addressing a gathering of professors and lecturers in New Delhi on December 19. The topic of lecture was ‘Global Scenario, RSS, Bharat & We’.

The function was organised by Sampark Vibhag of Delhi. Uttar Kshetra Sanghachalak Dr Bajranglal Gupt, Delhi Prant Sanghachalak Shri Kulbhushan Ahuja and Sah Prant Sanghachalak Dr SS Agrawal also shared the dais. Hundreds of lecturers and professors including the Mayor of Delhi Prof Rajni Abbi, participated in the function. In the beginning, Shri Kulbhushan Ahuja highlighted the objective of the function and said the Sampark Vibhag has been organising such events for some time to establish live contact with the people of different sections of the society.

The Sarsanghachalak was in Delhi on his four day tour from December 19 to 23. He reached Delhi from Himachal Pradesh. During the tour he had meetings with different groups of the workers. Since Shri Bhagwat has been stressing on strengthening the evening shakhas, he also visited several evening shakhas. There were Nagar Ekatrikarns in Delhi on December 20 and the Sarsanghachalak attended on such function in the morning. Later, he had meeting with leaders of different sections of the society including the ex-servicemen.

In his speech Shri Bhagwat touched many current issues and said the root cause of majority of the problems in the world today is selfishness and greed of the man. “The greed and lust for uninterrupted exploitation of the Nature is growing, but people are ignoring their duty towards the Nature and the universe. There is sufficient for everyone’s needs, but the Nature cannot satisfy even one’s greed. The only solution to this problem is that we must accept the fact that we all are part and not owner of the Nature,” he said.

About the Communal Violence Bill which has been agitating the countrymen for the last few months, Shri Bhagwat said Bharat has provided shelter to all those who were tortured or humiliated in any part of the world. But today there are efforts in the country to divide the society for vested interest. “The political interest has today become so much supreme that there are efforts to keep the people always confused. Is it right to keep the people confused in the democracy,” he asked.

About poverty alleviation the Sarsanghachalak said, during the last 60 years we tried many solutions propagated by different countries. “We followed the model of Britain, Russia, China, and also the liberalisation formula of the US. But there is now change in the condition of the common man. The rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. There are crores of people who are deprived of two times meals. Instead of changing the situation, the government is busy in establishing that those who earn Rs 26 in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas are rich. It shows gross insensitiveness on the part of the government towards its own people. If we really wish to eradicate poverty we would have to follow our own model of development which is based on our own values of life and think for the betterment of every creature,” he said.

Answering a query regarding the reconstruction of Sri Ram temple in Ayodhya, Shri Bhagwat said it would not take more than two years for building the temple if the land is provided to Hindus now. The High Court has already accepted the fact that there existed a temple. Now it is the question of getting the land. The prime hindrance which has delayed the reconstruction of the temple is political interference.

The Sarsanghachalak said today thinkers of all hues are eagerly looking towards Bharat to provide a solution, which is sustainable and can bring peace and harmony all around. This solution should indeed be indigenous for Bharat, as borrowed solutions have done no good to anybody. He said Bharat has to play a vital role in the global scenario and we should make ourselves ready to bear this responsibility. “We have to become a superpower not for threatening or exploiting other countries, but for establishing peace in the entire world. But before playing that role we have to make ourselves ready. Therefore, it is time for us to rise above the differences and overcome the hindrances, which are blocking our progress. If India has to make progress it can be done only on the basis of our svatva, the Hindu values of life. We have to give a model of economic development to the world which ensures milking of the Nature and generates more employment,” he said.

Quoting Rabindranath Tagore who described Hindutva as a binding force, Shri Bhagwat stressed the need to create leaders with high character like Anna Hazare and Dr Abdul Kalam even up to the village level. Answering a question from the audience regarding the Sangh and other political parties, Shri Bhagwat said the RSS is not against any political party, it supports all those who support its policies. “Our 87 years experience shows that the method of working that we have evolved and followed gives guaranteed results. I appeal to all of you to try this method at least once and if you do not like it you can leave it any time,” he told the professors and lecturers attending the function.                

(FOC)?