RSS general secretary says India is a \'Hindu Rashtra\'

New Delhi: Asserting that the term “Hindu Rashtra” was a “cultural concept” which does not need to be established under the Constitution, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Tuesday said that India was a “Hindu Rashtra”. The senior RSS leader also reacted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s latest attack on the Sangh, and asked him to be “more responsible.”

On other issues, the RSS said that it agreed with the Centre’s view on same-sex marriage submitted before the Supreme Court, adding that in the RSS’ view marriage can take place only between two people of opposite genders.

 Interacting with the media on the last day of the Sangh’s three-day-long Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in Haryana’s Samalkha, the RSS leader, in reply to a question, also explained that the Nation and the State are two different things.

“While a nation is a cultural concept, the state is that which is established by the Constitution… About Hindu Rashtra, we have been saying for the last 100 years that it’s a cultural concept, not theoretical… The State and the Nation are two different things. A State is that which is established by the Constitution. It is State power… Nation is a cultural concept. Bharat is already a Hindu Rashtra. It doesn’t need to be made a Hindu Rashtra,” said Hosabale.

Asking Gandhi to see the reality of the RSS’ acceptance in society, Mr Hosabale said: “As a political party leader, he should speak more responsibly and see the reality (of the Sangh’s expansion and acceptance in society).” He was replying to a question on the Congress leader’s repeated attacked on the organisation. The RSS leader said the Congress leader “must be doing this for his political agenda but the RSS does not work in the political field and he has no competition with the Sangh”.

Responding to questions on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in the UK, the RSS leader said: “Those who converted India into a jail have no right to comment on democracy in the country.”

On the ongoing same-sex marriage case in the Supreme Court, the RSS leader said: “Marriage can take place between two opposite genders. In Hindu life marriage is sanskar, it is not for enjoyment… two individuals marry and have a family for the benefit of society… marriage is neither for sexual enjoyment nor is it a contract.”

On the question of the Sangh’s outreach to Muslims, Hosabale said RSS leaders are meeting Muslim intellectuals and their spiritual leaders on their invitation only.

The ABPS, which had passed a resolution on Monday on India’s development mission following “swa” (selfhood), passed two resolutions on the 350th year of the establishment of “Hindavi Swaraj” by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj  and the 200th birth anniversary of Maharishi Dayanand, on which the RSS said “a true tribute can be paid to Maharishi Dayanand only by building a cultured vibrant society filled with the sense of ‘self’ and freeing the society of untouchability, addiction and superstitions.”