This time around something made me go through his whole speech on the auspicious day of Vijayadashami. Probably the picture of the burning khaki shorts put out by the Congress and the hue and cry by the DMK on the proposed RSS rally in Tamil Nadu. It increased my resolve to really understand what RSS is all about and hence, made me listen to every word of Mohan Bhagwat’s speech. I will try summarizing the important aspects in my own words.
Mr. Bhagwat talked about equality of man and woman and empowerment of women in society. Both have to complement each other and work for the progress of the society. He noted that the world today is listening to India and India is becoming self-sufficient. Our economy is slowly looking up post the Covid impact and will only improve as per the views coming in from the economists around the world. In the area of sports, the government has brought in good rigor through their policies and the performance of our sportsmen and sportswomen in Olympics and Paralympics has made us very proud. He further asserted that self-sufficiency is important but clarity of self which he calls Atma is also important. That clarity has to be shared by everyone in the society in the same way. The path for any good end is not easy and straight. It will have its challenges but one has to have the flexibility to first go to the south, then to west and then go to the final destination north, he gives an example. However, there has to be a good balance in the flexibility shown in order to avoid any mistrust.
Thus one common mindset will develop amongst people which he calls “Sahchittatha” which is a part of RSS ideology. Everyone has to be taken together in the journey which will obviously bring its own challenges one of them being fundamentalism. Things change with time and one has to change along with it. However, there is a permanent constant layer in Sanatana Dharma also, that has to be maintained while embracing the changes. Without this permanent layer, Sanatan, continuous change (Nityanutan) will lead to failure.
He also noted that there are external forces that pose a challenge to the Sanatan values in India which don’t want India to progress. In order to achieve their objectives, these external forces create a false narrative to detract us and corrupt our minds and separate the people of India. They want to spread anarchy and want the rules and laws of the land to be disrespected. They don’t want discipline to exist nor any fear for unlawful activities to linger in the minds of people. We should not fall into their trap. We should help the government in their efforts to neutralize such forces.
Mr. Bhagwat asks some really pertinent questions to us, the society, as follows:
- Although we can keep on saying that we need to protect our regional languages, do we send our kids to study in their mother tongue languages instead of just in English thinking it’s important for their careers? Do we sign documents or have our nameplates in our mother tongue language today? If people don’t do all this, how can they expect the government’s education policy to succeed?
- Do people send their kids to school telling them that education is important for becoming good citizens or is it important for them to earn good money later? Irrespective of whether the kids like a degree or not, aren’t the parents forcing them to take it up just because it will help them earn money later?
- Will just the education in schools instill the Sanatan values in the students? Shouldn’t this be done at a family level?
- We all want a health system that is affordable. If one becomes sick, one has to go for some medical interventions. Coming up with good systems for our illness is the duty of our government but what about taking care of our wellness? Isn’t that our own responsibility? Have we changed our bad habits?
- Are we being minimalistic in our families? Are we just buying what is a necessity for us or are we buying things for showing off to others?
- Are we leading our lives selflessly without harming others in some way? Have we not become self-centered?
- Are we not just running after jobs without thinking about other means of generating income? Even if there are government schemes around entrepreneurship, don’t we have to take steps in really reaching out and taking advantage?
- We have to make the government accountable and keep an eye on their performance but can just the government do this on their own without participation of the society?
- Increase in population is a big burden but don’t we have to look at ways to use that to our advantage, as a demographic dividend too? On the other hand, would it be wise to reduce our family size drastically? Isn’t a balanced holistic outlook needed as otherwise an imbalance will prove fatal? Shouldn’t a policy on population control be in place that is applicable to everyone equally?
India remained one even after so many onslaughts but still looked at the world as one family. That sanatan value is our Bharatiya culture standing on four pillars truth, empathy, devotion and honesty although things on the surface keep changing. In any act if one these four things seem to be missing, it’s an act against dharma. Every religion has to stand up against adharmic acts done by its own believers.
Mohan Bhagwat ends his speech saying “Gaon Gaon mein sajjan Shakti, rome rome mein bharat Bhakti”. Food for thought for all us indeed!
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