Our Bureau

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said that there should be a Ram temple in Ayodhya “at the earliest”.

Responding to the questions at the culmination of the three-day event titled “Bharat of Future – A RSS Perspective”, Bhagwat said, “We believe that there should be a grand temple for Lord Rama in Ayodhya at the earliest. It is a matter concerning the faith of crores of people and the sentiments should be respected. Furthermore, by building a temple at Ayodhya, a big cause of rift between Hindus and Muslims will be eliminated.”

On religious conversions

Talking about religious conversions, Bhagwat said conversion by illegal and unfair means was wrong.

“When we all are equal and all faiths are the same, where is the need to convert? Adopting a faith by genuine means is acceptable, but getting lured into it is wrong. If the Church pays money to convert, it is wrong,” Bhagwat said.

Bhagwat said the RSS does not accept Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Responding to a question, Bhagwat said there is no anger against Hindutva and its acceptance is increasing across the world.

To a query on women’s safety and increasing incidents of rape, he said we have to create an environment where women feel safe and secure. Men, he said, have to learn to respect women. He also said the LGBTQ community should not be isolated as they are a part of society. But at the same time, gay rights is not the only pressing issue which should be debated.

On reservation, Bhagwat said, “The RSS supports all reservation in the Constitution. Constitution does not provisions religion-based reservation. Let there be deliberation. Not reservation, reservation-based politics is the issue.”

On RSS’s relations with the BJP, Bhagwat said, “We have never supported any party, we only support a policy. For instance, in the post-Emergency period, we supported Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement and even the communists benefited from our support.”

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