Manjunath Bhandari
Credit: DH File Photo
Mangaluru: It is condemnable to compare Hinduism — a faith with thousands of years of history — with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is barely a hundred years old, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president and MLC Manjunath Bhandari has said.
Reacting to the recent nationwide discussion over the question, 'Why isn’t the RSS registered?' Bhandari criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s reply that “Even Hinduism is not registered.”
He said, “Such a statement is condemnable and a grave insult to Hinduism, which all of us represent.”
“By comparing Hinduism — a faith whose core philosophy is unity in diversity — to an unregistered organisation or association, Bhagwat has demeaned it,” he said.
“Hinduism has, for thousands of years, been an integral part of the lifestyle, culture, and beliefs of the indigenous people of this land. It has grown through the experiences, philosophies, and practices of countless generations and has flourished eternally without the need for anyone’s ‘registration’,” he added.
“It is not right to weigh a globally respected religion like Hinduism on the same scale as the RSS. Hinduism is practised and lived by all of us, but the ideology of the RSS is accepted only by a particular group,” Bhandari said.
He further said, “The fact that the RSS is a private organisation with a secret agenda has been proven by the fact that it has been banned three times in the past. Moreover, it continues to exert a negative influence over the nation’s politics, governance, education, and religion, despite lacking any registration under a democratic constitution.”