Mohan Bhagwat, the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), allegedly referred to religious conversions when he claimed on Sunday that missionaries take advantage of people’s perceptions that society is against them. He was speaking at a gathering when he gave a public dedication of Govindnath Maharaj’s samadhi.
“We don’t see our own people. We don’t go to them and ask them. But some missionary from thousands of miles away comes and lives there, eats their food, speaks their language and then converts them,” Bhagwat said.
“Over the course of 100 years, people came to India to change everything,” he said.
“They have been working here for centuries but failed to gain anything as our roots remained strong thanks to the efforts of our ancestors,” Bhagwat further said.
“Efforts are made to uproot them. So, the society should understand that deceit. We have to strengthen the faith,” he said.
The RSS chief said that an entire village in Madhya Pradesh became ‘sanatani’ after 150 years, Locals received help from Kalyan Ashram, a non-profit organisation supported by the RSS, and as a result, many turned hindu.
“We don’t need to go abroad to spread our faith as ‘sanatan dharma’ doesn’t believe in such practices. We need to remove the deviation and distortion of the Bharatiya traditions and faith here (in India) and strengthen the roots of our ‘dharma’,” he said.
Mr. Bhagwat has two events planned for today: he will inaugurate the Dr. Hedgewar Memorial Committee’s Saraswati Nagar offices and speak to the Sangh volunteers in Burhanpur.