Practice What You Preach: Opposition Reacts to RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on Indian DNA

New Delhi/Lucknow: A day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat asserted that the DNA of all Indians is the same, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday said if Bhagwat is true to his words, he must give directions that all those BJP leaders who "harassed" innocent Muslims be removed from their posts.

Singh, however, added that Bhagwat will not do so, alleging that there is a difference between his words and actions. 

In his address at an event 'Hindustan First Hindustani Best' organised by the Muslim Rashtriya Manch in Ghaziabad on Sunday, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) head also took on those indulging in lynching. "Cow is a holy animal, but those involved in lynching are against Hindutva," he had said.

Bhagwat had also said that though at times, some "false cases" of lynching have been registered against some people.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit back at Bhagwat over his remarks, saying those criminals who carried out lynching may not know the difference between a cow and a buffalo but the names of Junaid, Akhlaq, Pehlu, Rakbar, Alimuddin were enough for them to kill.

This hatred is the product of Hindutva and these criminals have the patronage of a  government backing Hindutva, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) alleged.

"Cowardice, violence and murder are an integral part of Godse's Hindutva thinking. The lynching of Muslims is also the result of this thinking," he said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

Tagging a report on the RSS chief's remarks that the DNA of all Indians is the same and those asking Muslims to leave the country cannot call themselves Hindus, Singh said, "Mohan Bhagwat ji, will you pass on these views to your disciples, preachers, Vishwa Hindu Parishad/Bajrang Dal workers also? Will you pass on these teachings to Modi-Shah ji and BJP chief minister also?"

"Mohan Bhagwat ji, if you make it obligatory for your disciples to follow this thought, I will become your admirer," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.

Alleging that the RSS had instilled "hatred" between Hindus and Muslims, Singh said it was now not easy to remove the "seeds of hatred" sown against Muslims from "Saraswati Shishu Mandir to the intellectual training provided by the Sangh."

"If you are honest with the views you expressed, then issue directions to remove all those leaders in the BJP, who have harassed innocent Muslims, from their posts immediately. Start with (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (UP Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath," the Congress leader said.

Referring to Bhagwat's remarks giving primacy to being Indian, Singh asked Bhagwat to explain this to his disciples first as they "advised me to go to Pakistan many times".

‘Muh me Ram, bagal me chhuri’: Mayawati

In Lucknow, reacting to RSS chief Bhagwat's remarks that the DNA of all Indians is the same, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati said it did not go down well as there is difference in what the Sangh Parivar, BJP and the government says as compared to their actions.

"RSS chief Bhagwat's remarks that the DNA of all Indians is the same and violence is against Hindutva at a programme in Ghaziabad on Sunday is not going down well as there is a difference in the words and actions of the Sangh, BJP and the government that is there for everyone to see," Mayawati said in a statement in Hindi here.

She also said the RSS chief's statement was like "Muh me Ram, bagal me chhuri", a Hindi proverb that roughly translates to showing a two-faced nature.

Bhagwat is cursing the country's politics by calling it divisive but that is not right, the former chief minister said.

It is the result of the blind support of RSS to BJP and its governments that the poison of casteism, political hatred and communal violence is plaguing normal life, she added.

The BSP president said Bhagwat had said "big things" in his statement in Ghaziabad.

"Without the cooperation and support of the RSS, the existence of the BJP is nothing. Why is the RSS not able to get what it wants implemented by the BJP and its governments?" she added.