News Round-up : Sarsanghachalak meets Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji at Adichunchanagiri
RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat on September 21 visited Sri Adichunchanagiri Math and met Pujya Sri Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji. Later, he addressed the gathering of Ganeshotsav Celebration at Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences. The Sarsanghachalak was accompanied by RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Bouddhik Pramukh Shri Mukunda CR, RSS Kshetra Sanghachalak Shri V Nagaraj, RSS Kshetra Pracharak Shri Shyamkumar and Prant Pracharak Shri Sudhir. Shri Bhagwat was welcomed by Swamiji and other authorities of the Institute.
RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat appealed to the Hindu society to strengthen social harmony and eradicate untouchabilty completely. Addressing a gathering of Dev Pratinidhis of Kullu District in Himachal Pradesh on September 24, he said if the society moves forward with unity it would strengthen social unity. He said temples, water bodies and crematoriums should be open for all and efforts should be made to ensure that every section of the society feel harmony. He warned if this does not happen the forces bent upon dividing the Hindu society would get strengthen. He said the role of religious and caste leaders is very crucial in it. “We believe in oneness, but it should reflect in our action also,” he said.
The convention was organised by Satsang Sabha, Kullu. About 200 Dev Pratinidhies participated in the convention. Earlier, the Sarsanghachalak was extended welcome as per the local traditions. RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Dr Manmohan Vaidya, Uttra Kshetra Karyavah Shri Sitaram Vyas, Prant Sanghachalak Shri Roopchand, Sah Prant Sanghachalak Dr Virsingh Rangra were also present on the occasion. n
Sewa Kumbh by VHP in Delhi
Delhi unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad organised Sewa Kumbh on September 20 as part of its golden jubilee celebration. The people turned to the event expressed willingness to join any of the Sewa activity. Addressing the Kumbh VHP’s Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh Shri Arvind Brahm Bhatt said sewa is the foundation of Hindu culture and it is in our blood. He highlighted the sewa activities being undertaken by the VHP workers throughout the country. Veteran Sangh Pracharak and former Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh Shri Premchand Goel advised the workers to stay away from any kind of demonstration in the sewa. He also felicitated some people for their outstanding contribution to sewa. Swami Raghvananda Maharaj said Bharat would not make desired growth until all people make progress. n
An organised society is the remedy to all misconceptions
—Bhaiyaji Joshi
“A democracy is only successful if the people are self-aware, organised and active,” said RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi while speaking at the concluding ceremony of a two day seminar on secularism in Chennai on September 20. Organised by Prachar Vibagh of RSS the seminar was inaugurated by Bhaiyaji Joshi on September 19 and was attended by more than 80 columnists from Southern states. Eminent personalities including Shri Balbir Punj (Vice President of BJP), Shri Prafulla Ketkar (editor of Organiser), Shri NK Singh (senior journalist), Smt. Madhavi Diwan (senior Advocate, Supreme Court), Shri KG Suresh (editorial advisor, Doordarshan), Dr Makkhan Lal (founder director of Delhi Institute of Heritage Research and Management) and Shri S Gurumurthy (Auditor and Columnist) presented their views on various aspects of secularism.
Bhiyaji spoke about the confusion prevailing in the society such as the name of the nation (India Vs Bharat), Country Vs State Vs Nation, Citizen Vs National, Patriot Vs Friend of Nation, Anti-national Vs Enemy of the Nation, Invader Vs Native Ruler, etc. Many of these confusions were infused by people with divisive interests including British and shallow political discourse. Current day democratic set up assumes to have absolute right over the public discourse which was not the case in pre-Independent Indian society. There was a clear distinction between the rights and responsibilities of both the ruler and society. The same is needed now, for example government can impart education while the character building has to be done by the society, Bhaiyaji said. He also said a secular state should not allow any sects or community to infringe upon the rights of other sects or communities. However, in Bharat today, the religious minorities are given preferential treatment.
RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Dr Manmohan Vaidya wondered why the word ‘secularism’ was included in the Preamble of the Constitution during Emergency. The Constitution makers had discussed and deliberated this point in detail and decided that it was not necessary to include. He requested the legal luminaries and political experts to ponder over this issue and to see whether the intention was to initiate divisive communal politics in the country. n
Save sanctity of temples:
ABGP demands
Shri Vivekanandan, Supreme Court lawyer and an activist of Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP) Tamil Nadu, handed over a petition in New Delhi on September 5 to Union Minister of State for I&B Rajvardhan Singh Rathore demanding ban on cinema shootings of love sequences and song sequences in Hindu temple premises much to the inconvenience of devotees. The ban, the petition said, would help the temples, which are centres of culture, could be preserved in their pristine form. Incidentally, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that criminal procedure will entail if instances of film shooting comes to the knowledge of the Hindu Religious Charitable and Endowments Board.
(VSK Tamil Nadu)
VHP welcomes court refusal to stay ban on cow slaughter
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) welcomed the Bombay High Court refusal to grant interim stay on ban on slaughter of cows during Bakri Eid. A division bench of justices A S Oka and VL Achliya, hearing a batch of petitions seeking relaxation on the ban on slaughter and sale of meat of bulls from September 25 to 27 on the occasion of Bakri Eid, declined to grant any interim relief to the Maharashtra Act by which the ban was imposed. The VHP said Srinagar High Court also recently said there should be no cow slaughter in the State. But the separatists, National Conference and PDP workers not only opposed the court directive, but also said to bring a resolution in the assembly to nullify the court order. In a statement VHP working president Dr Pravin Togadia warned if any such proposal was moved in the Assembly the VHP would start countrywide agitation against it.
