Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday, 6 September, said that 'as long as the society is unequal and discriminatory, reservations should continue.'
Bhagwat’s statement comes at a time when the Maratha community’s demand for a quota is back at the centre of Maharashtra politics.
Here’s everything that Bhagwat said at the Nagpur event.
On Reservations:
Reservations have to continue till there is discrimination.
“We at the RSS give all support to the reservations provided in the Constitution.”
“Why cannot we accept some trouble for 200 more years (after discriminating against others for over 2000 years)?”
Reservations are more about “giving respect.”
Meanwhile, in view of Bhagwat's statement about discrimination, Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge was quoted by news agency ANI as saying, "Mohan Bhagwat has given a statement saying that yes there has been social discrimination for over 2500 years. There has been inequality over 2000 years being done by us. Please ask him who is us?"
He further added, "What philosophy, and religion discriminated against humans from being humans? What prevented us from having an equitable society? They are the ones who have to answer because they are the ones who have agreed..."
Kharge was recently surrounded by controversy after he came out in support of Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin who equated 'Sanatana Dharma' with diseases like "dengue, malaria and COVID-19" and said that it must be "eradicated."
On Akhand Bharat:
“You will see it materialise before you get old.”
“Those who separated from India feel that they made a mistake. They feel that we should have been India again. They think that for becoming India they need to erase the lines on the map. But it is not so. Being India is of the accepting nature.”
On RSS Not Hoisting the National Flag at Their HQ:
“Every year on 15 August and 26 January we hoist the national flag, wherever we are. There is flag-hoisting at both our campuses in Mahal and Reshimbagh in Nagpur. People should not ask this question to us.”
Bhagwat also told the story of an RSS worker Kishan Singh Rajput who hoisted the national flag in 1933 in Jalgaon in front of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru. Recalling the tale, he said that when Nehru was hoisting the flag, it got stuck midway, but Rajput climbed the pole and waved it.
“Whether it is hoisted or not, when it comes to the honour of the national flag, our swayamsevak has been in the forefront and ready to give his life," he said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)