RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat backs LGBT rights in India

Mohan Bhagwat also said Muslims in India must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy. File pic/Rane Ashish

In an interview to Organiser and Panchjanya, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat spoke in support of the LGBT community, saying that they too should have their own private space and the Sangh will have to promote this view. Muslims have nothing to fear in India, but they must abandon their "boisterous rhetoric of supremacy", he said. Speaking to the magazine published this week, Bhagwat said the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community "should have their own private and social space".

"People with such proclivities have always been there; for as long as humans have existed... This is biological, a mode of life. We want them to have their own private space and to feel that they, too, are a part of the society. This is such a simple issue. We will have to promote this view because all other ways of resolving it will be futile," he said.

Bhagwat said the new-found aggression among Hindus the world over was due to an awakening in the society that has been at war for over 1,000 years. "You see, Hindu society has been at war for over 1,000 years - this fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign influences and foreign conspiracies. Sangh has offered its support to this cause, so have others.

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There are many who have spoken about it. And it is because of all these that the Hindu society has awakened. It is but natural for those at war to be aggressive," Bhagwat said. The RSS chief said India has been undivided (akhand) from the earliest times of recorded history, but was divided whenever the core Hindu sense was forgotten.

"Hindu is our identity, our nationality, our civilisational trait - a trait that considers everyone as ours; that takes everyone along. We never say, mine is only true and yours is false. You are right at your place, I am right at mine; why to fight, let us move together - this is Hindutva," Bhagwat said. "The simple truth is this - Hindusthan should remain Hindusthan.

There is no harm to the Muslims living today in Bharat... Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy. We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over this land, and shall rule it again; only our path is right, rest everyone is wrong; we are different, therefore we will continue to be so; we cannot live together - they (Muslims) must abandon this narrative. In fact, all those who live here - whether a Hindu or a communist - must give up this logic," the RSS chief said. RS MP Kapil Sibal Wednesday took a swipe at Bhagwat's "Hindusthan should remain Hindusthan" remark, saying he agreed but "Insaan (human beings) should remain Insaan".

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