The brave and nature loving ‘Vanvasis’ living in forests fought relentlessly against the foreign forces and sacrificed to save and protect our Sanatana Hindu Culture, said Rashtraya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat.
Addressing a mammoth gathering of Vanvasi people at ‘Virat Hindu Sammelan held at Dahanu, near here on Tuesday to commemorate the conclusion of golden jubilee celebrations of the VHP hostel for Vanvasi students at Talasari, Dr Bhagwat credited these forest-dwellers for preserving the Sanatana Hindu culture and Vedic traditions braving the onslaught of the foreign powers.
Noted religious personalities lincluding Swami Savitanand Maharaj, Balyogi Sadanand Maharaj, Mahamandaleshwar Bappa, Ashok Chaugule, Devakinandan Jindal and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Bhagwar further said that the Vanavasis or Janjatis are our brethren but we always neglected them. Now this will not do. We must introduce him to our family, society and take this further to next generations. We must protect the unity and offer them opportunities for progress. If we spend one third of our time and resources for the welfare of these brethren then within a short time we can bring them in to the national mainstream, the RSS Sarsanghchalak said.
The divisive forces and those vested interests converting these simple nature loving people to other religions, will be neutralized once we experience this unity and consolidate the same, Dr Bhagwat said sounding a warning about the vested interests indulging in conversion.
He further said that in our quest to associate us with our caste, language, province etc. we tend to forget our national identity that is essentially ‘Hindu’ identity. Being Hindu is the most important ‘junction’ of our life journey and many vested interests are active to mislead us from reaching that junction, he added. Many scholars and intellectuals right from Lord Macaulay had tried their best to erase this Hindu identity of our society. Even today, there are some who are following in their footsteps. We are facing the challenge to stay away from them and preserve our Hindu identity, the RSS Chief said.
Over 60,000 janjati people from remote areas of Palghar district attended this Hindu Sammelan. A book titled “Van-Jan-Gatha” was released at the hands of Dr Bhagwat. The book is published by Hindusthan Prakashan. Sarsanghchalak visited the Talasari project after the program was over.
