Kolkata: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said it does not believe in religious divisions, adding that minorities in Bengal have increasingly taken an interest in RSS since the change in governance in the state.“RSS does not believe in division based on religion. It believes in working for society. Division starts when people stop interacting with each other,” said Biplab Roy, RSS prachar pramukh in Bengal.Speaking at a seminar organised by Minority Citizen Forum, an affiliate organisation of Sangh, Roy said a misconception about RSS has been ingrained in the public psyche by divisive forces. “The divisions are more political in nature. When the proposal to divide Bengal was mooted, people opposed irrespective of their religion,” he said.“There was a time when the Muslim community did not even speak to RSS karyakartas,” Roy said. “That perception has changed. Now we are visiting each other’s homes. If my neighbour is pained by the slaughter of cows, I can refrain from that.”Shahid Akhtar, member of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions and convener of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, urged people of both communities to work closely. “We first divide ourselves into Hindus and Muslims, and then we divide these communities into sects and sub-sects. This process of division continues and the country suffers,” Akhtar said.
