In a statement that could embarrass the Congress,RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat today claimed it was President Pratibha Patils husband Devi Singh Shekhawat who first signed the consent letter for the protection of cow at the beginning of the Gow Gram Yatra undertaken by various Hindu organisations including the Viswa Hindu Parishad last year. Aimed at,among other things,protection of the cow and propagating the ideals of Sanatan Hindu Dharma,the Yatra that started on September 28 last year from Kurukshetra in Haryana ended in Nagpur on January 20 this year. It is known to everybody that Shekawatji signed it at Bidarbha when the jatha reached there, the RSS chief,who will address a rally here tomorrow,said at a media conference at Keshav Bhavan,the RSS state headquarters. The RSS chief backed the IPL over the auction in which no Pakistani cricketer was bid for,saying Pakistan should first stop exporting terrorism to India. Let them stop exporting terrorism to India first and only then cricket can come. But cricket and terrorism cannot go hand in hand, Bhagwat said. So far fighting Maoists was concerned,the RSS chief admitted they were happy to see that at last the government had woken up to the menace. There are signs that the Central government has awakened. But a lot more has to be done. Naxalites understand the language of arms. We believe there should not be any ceasefire with them because they use this opportunity to regroup and strike back. But mere armed action cannot solve the problem. The government must create conditions where exploitation of the tribals no longer exists. It is only then that this can be tackled, the RSS chief said. Bhagwat also claimed that Hindutva had an appeal for the youth in West Bengal also. West Bengal is the state where we had saints like Ramakrishna Paramhans and Swami Vivekananda and I dont believe Hinduvta could not have any appeal here. We are in fact trying to attract more youth to our fold, the RSS chief said.
