Bhagwat’s Remarks and RSS Ideology Don’t Match, Says Owaisi

AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has questioned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent remarks on Hindu-Muslim harmony, arguing that they stand in contrast to the organisation’s long-established ideological positions.

Bhagwat, speaking at the One World: One Humanity Faith Leaders Summit in New York, said that a Hindu who believes Muslims should not live in India cannot be considered a true Hindu.

Responding to the remarks on social media platform X, Owaisi said the statement was inconsistent with the RSS’s historical approach towards religious minorities. He alleged that the organisation had often maintained different messaging for the outside world and for its own members.

“This has been an old strategy of the RSS - one message for the world and another for those within the organisation,” Owaisi said.

The AIMIM chief referred to the life and ideology of RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar, claiming that Hedgewar had opposed Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts to promote Hindu-Muslim unity and did not support the slogan advocating communal harmony.

Owaisi also cited M.S. Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts, referring to its discussion on “internal threats”. He alleged that the former RSS chief had identified Muslims and Christians as major internal threats to the country.

Taking his criticism further, Owaisi accused the RSS of seeking to impose its ideological vision on religious minorities through policy and legislation. He alleged that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was being used to enforce what he described as Hindu laws on Muslims.

He also criticised what he called stringent anti-conversion laws, alleging that such measures were being used to target the Christian community.

Owaisi’s remarks came in response to Bhagwat’s comments at the New York summit, bringing the debate over the RSS’s ideological position on religious minorities and communal harmony back into focus.