In his maiden Dussehra speech on Sunday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat downplayed Hindutva rhetoric and stressed more on external and internal security risks, particularly singling out the Chinese threat.

“Apart from Pakistan, China and Bangladesh are creating problems for us with their expansionist designs. China has built bases all around us, it doesn’t respect the McMahon Line, and lays claim on Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Bangladesh has sent its people into Assam with the same design. We are less prepared for any potential war than China is and immediate steps are required to detect, delete and deport infiltrators,” he said.

He added, “The government has information that the ISI and many foreign mercenary agencies, in tandem with anti-national elements, are not only behind the so-called home-grown Maoist extremism and Jehadi terror but is also active in fomenting terrorism on both sides of the border.”

Suggesting a “five-pronged” strategy to counter these threats, the RSS chief added, “The government should take tough action to eliminate terrorism, strengthen security forces and intelligence, start a training and awareness drive among people on security. (It should also put) an end to unemployment, exploitation and corruption.”

Bhagwat also touched upon agriculture. “India is an agrarian country, but the farm sector is caught in farmers’ suicide spiral due to neglect. We have to save our cultivable land and ourselves from SEZs. We have to come out of the discriminatory WTO policies and void multinationals. We need a system of contemporary, appropriate and yet tradition-based knowledge in agriculture.”

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