‘This Taliban incident’ was not reaction, but result of a belief system: RSS
On a day the Supreme Court came down heavily on suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma saying she “is single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country”, the RSS suggested that “this Taliban incident” was not a reaction to provocation but the result of a mentality and a belief system.
“You see, this Taliban incident is not a reaction. It is not a reaction to some provocation. It has been happening across the world without any provocation. Somewhere there is Hamas, Islamic State, Taliban… In our country, we have SIMI and PFI. This is not a result of provocation. Anyone who believes so needs to study more. It is important to understand the mentality and belief system behind this Taliban incident,” RSS publicity chief Sunil Ambekar said on Friday.
RSS sources said Ambekar’s reference was to the June 28 incident where two Muslim men hacked to death a Hindu tailor in Udaipur for allegedly supporting Sharma’s controversial comments on Prophet Mohammed on social media.
“Our imagination of India is one that uses its strength to help others. A good person has to also be strong enough to help another good person and stop those who are trying to disrupt peace. …There are constitutional ways to deal with issues. Anyone who has a problem must use the constitutional ways,” Ambekar said.
Ambekar was speaking at an event organised by Prabhat Prakashan to launch two books by Arun Anand–The Taliban: War and Religion in Afghanistan and The Forgotten History of India.
The RSS publicity chief emphasised the need for people to understand the Taliban as they were a neighbourhood phenomenon. “A nation that has suffered Partition in the name of religious fundamentalism cannot ignore it. It is important to ascertain whether any threads from there are getting connected to India or such elements are entering the country. Are some incidents happening in the country connected with them? Are such elements who support such fundamentalist ideology for political or selfish interests connected with them? What is treason? It must be ascertained,” Ambekar said.
He said that people from across the country had struggled for freedom but not all of them were talked about.
“We were not told about the INA. The contribution of the RSS was completely suppressed after whatever happened following Independence. On July 12, 1922, Dr Hedgewar was released from jail after one year. A function was organised at Nagpur to welcome him. At that time, Motilal Nahru and C Rajagopalachari came and delivered speeches at the event. The nation must be exposed to this information,” he said.
Ambekar said people must know about V D Savarkar, Netaji Subhash Bose, tribal leader Birsa Munda and the Manipur king who was jailed in Andaman and Nicobar.
“Only then will people realise that India was one even before 1947 and it was not the British who organised us into a nation. That is why it is important to revisit the pages of history. How did socialism and secularism enter the Constitution? The new generation must be made aware of this,” he said.
He also stressed that the new generation must know why the partition happened. “Some people want it not discussed. It is important to discuss it to ensure it does not happen again. It is important to ensure that our country is not attacked again or such powers do not take roots which talk about secession and terrorism,” he said.
