Eminent Muslims' group hails RSS chief Bhagwat's remarks

New Delhi: A civil society group comprising eminent Muslims, including former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi, on Saturday hailed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks batting for an inclusive society and hoped that this will be a guide to many who are "attacking the very fabric" of the country.

Bhagwat had expressed concern over resurgence of several temple-mosque disputes and said certain individuals, after the construction of Ayodhya Ram temple, seem to believe they can become leaders of Hindus by raking up such issues.

Delivering a lecture on "India: The Vishwaguru" at Sahjeevan Vyakhyanmala (lecture series) in Pune on Thursday, Bhagwat advocated for an inclusive society and said the world needs to be shown that India can live together in harmony.

In a letter to Bhagwat, the group Citizens for Fraternity said, "We are immensely pleased by your comments made at Pune. We, as Bhartiya Muslims, and indeed Christians, have been immensely concerned on recent utterances by a section of society as well as by incidents that have taken place in the recent past and which have led to grave communal tensions."

"Therefore, a statement from the Sarsanghchalak carries immense weight and gives hope to all right-thinking people in Bharat as indeed across the world," the letter signed by Quraishi, former Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, former Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui and industrialist Saeed Sherwani said.

"We do hope this will be a guide to many who are attacking the very fabric of our country," it said.

Highlighting the plurality of Indian society, the RSS chief said Christmas is celebrated in Ramakrishna Mission, adding only we can do this because we are Hindus.

"We have been living in harmony for a long time. If we want to provide this harmony to the world, we need to create a model of it. After the construction of the Ram Mandir, some people think they can become leaders of Hindus by raking up similar issues in new places. This is not acceptable," he said.

The Ram temple was constructed since it was a matter of faith for all Hindus, Bhagwat said.

"Every day a new matter (dispute) is being raked up. How can this be allowed? This cannot continue. India needs to show that we can live together," he said without mentioning any particular site.