The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    On Vijayadashami, Bhagwat says need to stay prepared to counter "constant" Chinese threat

    Synopsis

    RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said India needs to grow bigger than China in terms of shakti and vypati (power and scope), adding the world knows that country's expansionist designs.

    China still intruding, but this time India’s response made them nervous: Mohan Bhagwat
    NEW DELHI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said India will have to be “militarily alert, economically stronger and diplomatically prepared” and needs to grow in “power and scope” to take on China's expansionist policies.

    While speaking at the RSS annual Vijayadashami rally in Nagpur, which was broadcast online, Bhagwat said the Indian Army and people responded to Chinese incursions with a “strength and self- respect” that would have shocked Beijing. “The way China is deploying its expansionist attitude, even in the middle of the pandemic, is not new. It has done the same with countries such as Taiwan and Vietnam," he said. “But when it did the same with India, our soldiers fought on the border and people of the country showed their patriotic stand. Now, other countries have also started calling China out. Mistaking our benevolence for weakness and attempts to disintegrate or weaken us by sheer brute force is unacceptable. I hope China must have realised that we are not weak...Everyone who thinks like that should know by now that we are prepared. We have to keep this self-respect and preparation intact.”

    According to him, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh have had civilizational connect with India for ages. “It is time to forge strong relations with them to isolate China,” he said.

    Amid protests against the Centre's farm bills, Bhagwat also said it was important to think about the welfare of farmers by protecting them against corporate exploitation, and not make agriculture all about profit. "We must not forget that we are an agricultural country. We have ancient wisdom in this field. The farmers need the freedom to add value to their produce. They must be trained in what we have left behind and also in modern techniques. Our idea of progress has already been consultative, of taking everyone along,” he said.

    Bhagwat specifically praised the widespread consultation that took place for national education policy and hinted that was the way forward.

    Calling the recent steps taken by the Centre in education, labour, agriculture and economy as “hopeful”, Bhagwat said, “But everyone involved in the implementation should believe in swadeshi. There should be long-term thinking in policymaking. The Centre should give the farmers a safety shield to protect them against corporate interests."

    Bhagwat said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was not against any particular religious community. He said “some people had misled our Muslim brothers” claiming it was aimed at restricting their population. “The communal sentiment that arose in the minds of people because of anti- CAA protests has not been fully addressed because of Covid-19," he said.

    The RSS chief again called for adopting “vocal for local” and said it was also equally important to ensure swadeshi in methods of production, distribution and choosing the nature of products India intends to manufacture. Taking the instance of alcohol, he said: "Many households get destroyed due to this. The ills of alcohol are known to everyone. Shukracharya had talked about entire generations of Krishna getting destroyed because of alcohol...There are talks that prohibition can be revoked. What will a common man think? We can manufacture alcohol, even become number one in exports, but we have to think whether alcohol is even part of our value system?”

    While reiterating that the soul of India was “Hindutva”, Bhagwat said people should not get misled by “breaking India” forces”. Calling for “emotional integration”, he asked people of the country who take offence at being called Hindu to “shed their separateness and accept the larger identity of being children of Bharatmata”.

    He said that Hindu was the only term that represented the people of the country accurately. It was a “unifying” term that represented the many faiths followed and languages spoken here, said Bhagwat.

    Without referring to the recent rape case in Hathras, Bhagwat said there are elements that talk about the “diversity of India” as inequality and create divisions among communities. “This is not politics. When a crime happens the administration should act swiftly, nab the culprits. Political parties in India can compete with each other, not go to war with each other,” he said.

    Furore over Bhagwat comment

    RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment on China created much furore with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that it was an admission of the Centre’s failure to keep the country safe.

    “Deep inside, Mr Bhagwat knows the truth.He is just scared to face it. The truth is China has taken our land and the Government of India and RSS have allowed it,” tweeted Gandhi.

    Rahul Gandhi and his party have repeatedly attacked the Centre over the long stand-off with China in Ladakh.

    Arun Anand, an author who tracks the RSS, said the word used by Bhagwat was "atikraman" that meant incursion or aggression, and not encroachment.

    "This inability to understand basic Hindi shows the alienation of Congress from Bharat and Bharatiyata. Also, Congress should learn from the way Jan Sangh supported Jawaharlal Nehru during the Chinese attack in 1962. Power politics shouldn't supersede national interests,” said Anand.



    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in