RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said lynching is a 'western construct' and should not be used in the Indian context to defame the country.
The statement seems like an attempt to distance the Sangh from religion and caste-fuelled hate crime that have repeatedly happened under Narendra Modi's rule since 2014 but which saw little resistance from the ruling dispensation. Last month, Bhagwat told a gathering that the RSS would 'disown' any swayamsevak found guilty of any such incident.
Today, he said lynching is un-Indian. 'Lynching is not the word from Indian ethos, its origin is from a story in a separate religious text. We Indians trust in brotherhood. Don't impose such terms on Indians,' he told a Vijayadashmi gathering of the RSS on the Reshimbagh ground in Nagpur. 'Swayamsevaks are brought up with that sanskar.' Everyone should live within the confines of the law, he said.
In the past few years, there has been transformation in the 'direction of thought process of Bharat', according to Bhagwat. 'There are many people in the world and in Bharat as well, who don't want this. A developed Bharat creates fear in the minds of vested interests.... Such forces will also not want Bharat to be strong and vibrant,' he said. Even well-meaning policies, statements from persons in government and the administration were being misused to benefit nefarious designs by vested interests. 'We must be alert in identifying these plots and counter them at the intellectual and social levels,' he said.
He lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for the abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir, but said vested interests do not want the country to be strong and vibrant.
He said India's borders were now safer than ever, and more focus was needed on coastal security.
On concerns over the economy, he said the slowing down of the world economy had left its impact everywhere. 'The government has taken initiatives to tide over the situation in the last one-and-a-half months. Our society is entrepreneurial and will overcome these challenges,' he added.