New Delhi: Reiterating his earlier stand on Hindus and Muslims having the same DNA, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat Tuesday said the DNA of those living in the vast landmass of “Akhand Bharat” for over 40,000 years is the same.
At a programme here, themed “100 Years Journey of RSS: New Horizons,” the RSS sarsanghachalak said Hindus are those living in this landmass, though some of them don’t acknowledge themselves as Hindu, and others have even forgotten that they were Hindu.
There are four types of Hindus, Bhagwat said: those who are proud of their Hindu identity; those who just know they are Hindu; those who know yet don’t admit they are Hindu because of some reason; and those who don’t know they are Hindu.
However, even those who don’t know they are Hindu do not mind being called Hindavi or Bharatiya, he said, adding that some even accept being Sanatani.
If one does not believe they are Hindu, but believe they are Hindavi or Bharatiya, that is fine, he said, adding that they should understand the “content” of the word, and that “content” is not geographical, but contains a “bhakti for Bharat Mata,” and a common tradition of our ancestors. “Even if you see the DNA, it is the same. For 40,000 years, DNA of the people of Bharat has been the same … those who are on the land of Akhand Bharat.”
Exactly hundred years ago, Dr K.B. Hedgewar started the RSS with the aim of uniting the Hindu society, Bhagwat said.
“Here, the question arises, why were the others left out?” he asked before delineating a historical version of how people belonging to “Bharat” came to be called Hindus. In ancient times, the people of Iran used to call people who lived across the Sindhu river as “Hanad,” which was gradually transformed to “Hindu”, he said.
While people living here believed in multiple gods and granths (scriptures) there was an overarching belief that all routes lead to one destination, and no one route is right or wrong, he said. Anyone who believed in this unity of destination was called Hindu.
“So who is a Hindu? Anyone who believes in this is a Hindu. Whatever path one has got, go on that path. Don’t change yourself or others,” Bhagwat told the audience.
Adding, “Respect your faith and that of others. Never disrespect it, and don’t fight over the paths—anyone who has this tradition and culture is a Hindu.”
Moreover, anyone who believes that we have common ancestors is a Hindu, he added. “But when the Sangh started, not everyone called themselves a Hindu. They don’t now either.”
And it is our tradition to live together. We don’t believe that one has to be uniform to be united. Diversity is a product of unity, said the RSS chief.
But just as one answers the easiest questions in an exam first, the Sangh believes in uniting those who call themselves Hindus first, Bhagwat said, adding that then even those who don’t call themselves Hindus will start calling themselves Hindu.
Hindu does not imply “Hindu versus all” because Hindu means inclusive, and there are no limits to this inclusivity, he said.
Drawing a parallel between exercise and the Sangh, Bhagwat said, just the way one does not exercise in order to fight someone else, but to keep good health, the Sangh does not work against anyone, but to keep society in good health.
This is not the first time Bhagwat made this comment about a common ancestry and DNA. In 2021 too, he said Hindus and Muslims share the same ancestry. “The word Hindu is equivalent to the rich heritage of our motherland, ancestors and culture, and every Indian is a Hindu,” he said in a statement that caused some resentment among RSS cadre.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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