Bhagwat pitches for inter-caste marriages

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has backed inter-caste marriages, virtually a taboo among Hindus, in remarks that come against the backdrop of BJP's aggressive courting of backward castes and dalits in the recent UP polls. "We insist that Swayamsevaks should stand in favour of such reformative measures. Generally, it happens and it should happen.

"If you take a survey, you will find more Swayamsevaks with inter-caste marriages than anybody else," Bhagwat said in an interview to the pro-RSS magazine Organiser. Shedding its Bania-Brahmin party tag, BJP aggressively wooed the backward castes and dalit electorate in the UP assembly elections, reaping a handsome electoral harvest.

Bhagwat said wherever people in favour of social equality are in power, they should ensure the strict implementation of the constitutional and legal provisions pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

"Even if the government ensures the timely allocation of funds and appointing the right person for the right job, that itself would be a big job.  Fifty per cent of systemic issues would be resolved by this.

"These provisions are already there, we just have to implement them in right spirit. We believe that wherever Swayamesevaks are in government positions, they should focus on this aspect. We can only insist on this and we are doing this sincerely," he said.

Many top functionaries in the BJP governments, at the Centre and in states, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, besides Union Minister Nitin Gadkari have RSS background.