NEW DELHI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday placed Hindu inclusiveness and society-led political change at the centre of his closely watched address at Madison Square Garden, saying a Hindu who wanted India without Muslims would “not remain Hindu” and arguing that public opinion—not political power—was the starting point for lasting change.Bhagwat said the RSS wanted to influence policies, prevent conflicts and “stop wars”, but could not begin by seeking political influence. “Politics has now become a game of self-interest,” he said. Change, he argued, must start in society and create a public view that governments cannot disregard. “If there is public opinion, then no politician will dare to go against it,” he said.Speaking at the “Universal Oneness Celebration” at the Infosys Theatre in Madison Square Garden, Bhagwat said religions were different routes to the same truth. Rituals and religious discipline were necessary, he said, but they should not become more important than the larger goal of reaching the divine.“Diversity is a decoration for our humanity,” he said, adding that it must be “accepted, respected and protected”. While diversity was the rule of nature, unity was the truth behind it, he said.Bhagwat recalled being asked by Muslims during a 2018 lecture series in Delhi whether the RSS’s idea of a Hindu Rashtra meant they would be driven out. “I said, no. That is not Hindu. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu,” he said. Hindu thought, he added, required acceptance that different paths could lead to the same truth and that every human being had equal dignity.He said the RSS had since continued dialogues with Muslims and Christians, even though results had been slow. Dialogue and service, he said, must proceed together. He cited the organisation’s 1.3 lakh service projects and said assistance was provided without religious discrimination.Bhagwat also addressed questions about the RSS’s public image. The organisation, he said, was once “minuscule” and ignored but had acquired “some say” in Indian society over its 100-year journey. He blamed doubts about it on “wrong narratives” and said they would disappear if people saw the organisation from within.Calling for work at the local level, he asked religious and community leaders to create examples of unity and selfless service in their own countries and gradually take the dialogue to provinces, districts and smaller communities. Changing entrenched attitudes would be “laborious, tedious and time-consuming”, he acknowledged, urging participants not to abandon dialogue because it produced no immediate result. “RSS with all its might is always with you,” he said.The address came after days of controversy around the centenary-year event, organised by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue and supported by more than 200 Hindu American organisations. New York mayor Zohran Mamdani opposed the gathering, describing the RSS’s vision as exclusionary, but acknowledged that the city might not have the authority to cancel a private event.
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A coalition of civil-rights, interfaith and community groups sought its cancellation, while USCIRF called for Bhagwat’s visa to be revoked and sanctions considered against RSS members. India rejected the commission’s remarks as biased. AHEAD’s X account was briefly suspended and later restored. American singer Mary Millben and BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli separately criticised Mamdani, arguing that opposing the event contradicted his stated commitment to pluralism.
