Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Senior Congressman B K Hariprasad’s comments equating RSS with Taliban triggered an intense ideological slugfest on Sunday between him and BJP state president B Y Vijayendra.
Hariprasad’s comment on Saturday came after PM Modi claimed in his Independence Day speech that the RSS was the “world’s biggest NGO”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Vijayendra slammed Hariprasad’s comment and said it exposed latter’s “ignorance” of history.
“For nearly a century, RSS has stood as one of the strongest pillars of social service in this nation. When floods devastated Karnataka’s Kodagu and Karavali regions in 2018, when Kerala and Uttarakhand faced deluges, swayamsevaks were on the ground”.
Claiming that the RSS was rooted in “discipline, patriotism and service,” he said it was “shameful” to compare the RSS with a terror outfit like Taliban.
“If Hariprasad cannot see the difference between a service-driven nationalist organisation and a barbaric extremist group, problem lies not with RSS but with his own political blinkers.”
In a strong rebuttal on X, Hariprasad claimed he knew not only “depth and breadth of RSS, but also its perimeter”.
“A socially divisive organisation like RSS, which is destroying social harmony and filling people with opium of religion, is more dangerous than Taliban. Before you give an account of the social service of RSS in 100 years, do you know the account of the anti-social activities by Sangh? Social service is just the face, behind which there are masks of countless unconstitutional activities.
“Is it a cultural organisation? Social organisation? Publicly funded? A gang of cadres with a hidden political agenda? Or, is it just a Hindu organisation?”
Accusing the Sangh of claiming that “Hindus are one” but also “practicing” the chaturvarna system, Hariprasad said he knew the “hidden agenda” of RSS.