If Hindus think Muslims have no place, they cease to be Hindu: Mohan Bhagwat in New York

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday (August 29, 2026) mentioned that Hindutva doesn’t envisage a Bharat (title he makes use of for India) with out Muslims, asserting that an individual who believes Muslims should not have any place within the nation would stop to be a Hindu.

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Addressing an occasion in New York Metropolis the place he spoke with leaders from totally different communities and religions, Mr. Bhagwat mentioned that Muslims, throughout a dialogue with him, had questioned him in regards to the RSS’s imaginative and prescient of a “Hindu Rashtra” and whether or not Muslims can be pushed overseas. “I mentioned, no, that’s not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there needs to be no Muslims in Bharat, he is not going to stay Hindu,” he mentioned.

Mr. Bhagwat confused that whereas individuals could comply with totally different religions, humanity stays one. “We stay in a society the place religions could also be totally different, however humanity is one,” he mentioned, including that india’s custom had been to offer shelter to individuals no matter their non secular id.

He additionally cited the RSS’s service actions to underline his declare that the organisation doesn’t discriminate on the premise of faith. Based on him, round 1.3 lakh service initiatives are being run by RSS volunteers with the assistance of society.

Recalling an incident in Dadri, Haryana, the place two plane from Muslim-majority international locations collided, Mr. Bhagwat mentioned RSS volunteers had been among the many first to achieve the location. As all passengers had died, the volunteers helped organize funerals and assisted kin in figuring out the victims, he mentioned.

“We don’t have the thought that they’re Muslims,” Mr. Bhagwat mentioned, referring to the RSS volunteers’ strategy to aid and repair.

He mentioned the organisation’s strategy was rooted within the perception that “we” and “ours” ought to substitute the slim give attention to “me” and “mine”. “The place there may be ‘me’ and ‘mine,’ there is no such thing as a answer. ‘We’ and ‘ours’ is the answer,” he mentioned.

Mr. Bhagwat additionally referred to the RSS’s dialogue with members of minority communities, saying that the organisation had begun participating extra extensively with Muslims and Christians in Bharat after 2018. “Dialogue is step one, and repair is one other step,” he mentioned.

Invoking the instance of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the RSS chief mentioned the non secular trainer had practised totally different non secular traditions, together with Islam and Christianity. He quoted him as saying: “As some ways, as many ideas. All result in a method.”

Mr. Bhagwat mentioned the thought of the unity of humanity was embedded in India’s conventional thought in addition to within the Structure. He argued that social change couldn’t be achieved by way of politics alone and known as for native initiatives primarily based on selfless service, dialogue and unity.

‘Issues can’t be achieved by way of politics alone. Sorry to say, however the truth is that politics has now develop into a recreation of self-interest. Our expertise in India is that we’ve to start out with society, and we’ve began it,’ he mentioned.