Muslims and Christians should accept their Hindu origin -- RSS

Muslims and Christians should accept their Hindu origin -- RSS
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

AGRA, OCT 15: Close on the heels of his controversial suggestion for a `swadeshi church', RSS chief K S Sudarshan today asked Muslims and Christians to join the country's cultural mainstream by accepting their Hindu ancestry and validity of other religions.

Sudarshan criticised the western model of economic development and the hype about Information Technology and suggested adoption of a rural-oriented Gandhian model for the nation's overall progress.

He was addressing the concluding session of the three-day RSS 'National Security' camp here, which was attended among others by Home Minister L K Advani and UP Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta.

Telling the Muslims that they had the ``blood of Rama and Krishna in their veins'', he told them ``Why are you linking yourselves with the invader Babur whose mausoleum stands neglected even in Islamic Afghanistan?''

``The ancestors of Muslims did not come from abroad except a handful. Their roots are Indians. Like the Iranian Muslims, who evolved Sufism, why don't they give an new form to Islam which can take everyone along?''

The RSS chief reminded the Muslims that even the leader of Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain has described partition as the ``Greatest Blunder in Human History''.

Condemning the Vatican for asserting in a recent document that all religions are not equal, the RSS chief said, ``Should people believing in such views (Catholic missionaries) be allowed to work here?''

``We do not need conversion. The majority of Indian Christians subscribed to the Vatican view. When England, Scotland and Ireland can have their own churches, it is necessary for Indian Christians to sever their ties with such an intolerant viewpoint and accept that there are other ways of salvation.''

Alleging that Christianity was more of politics, he said, ``We oppose the politics of the church.''

Terming the critics of the Sangh Parivar as Yurandpanthies

(Euro-Indians) --- who see India through European eyes -- he accused them of scuttling every effort at reawakening the masses by dismissing them as saffronisation.

Sudarshan had sparked off a major controversy by calling for the establishment of a Swadeshi Church and Indianisation of Islam in his Vijay Dashami address in Nagpur on October seven.

Coming down heavily on the western model of development which was ruining the country, Sudarshan suggested the adoption of a Gandhian model which was rural-oriented, less capital intensive, environment friendly and employment-generating.

He said RSS was in consultation with top economists on the issue and would put up the idea for a National debate in another two years.

While appreciating the country's achievements in the field of Information Technology, he said, ``Let us not get carried away by it. Information Technology will not fill your stomach. We cannot ape America where there is only one per cent of farmers.''