![\"No](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133618130,imgsize-49838,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/mohan-bhagwat-in-new-york.jpg\" "\\"Different")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: RSS<\/a> chief Mohan Bhagwat<\/a> on Saturday placed Hindu inclusiveness and society-led political change at the centre of his closely watched address at Madison Square Garden, saying a Hindu who wanted India without Muslims would \u201cnot remain Hindu\u201d and arguing that public opinion\u2014not political power\u2014was the starting point for lasting change.Bhagwat said the RSS wanted to influence policies, prevent conflicts and \u201cstop wars\u201d, but could not begin by seeking political influence. \u201cPolitics has now become a game of self-interest,\u201d he said. Change, he argued, must start in society and create a public view that governments cannot disregard. \u201cIf there is public opinion, then no politician will dare to go against it,\u201d he said.Speaking at the \u201cUniversal Oneness Celebration\u201d at the Infosys Theatre in Madison Square Garden, Bhagwat said religions were different routes to the same truth. Rituals and religious discipline were necessary, he said, but they should not become more important than the larger goal of reaching the divine.\u201cDiversity is a decoration for our humanity,\u201d he said, adding that it must be \u201caccepted, respected and protected\u201d. While diversity was the rule of nature, unity was the truth behind it, he said.Bhagwat recalled being asked by Muslims during a 2018 lecture series in Delhi whether the RSS\u2019s idea of a Hindu Rashtra meant they would be driven out. \u201cI said, no. That is not Hindu. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu,\u201d he said. Hindu thought, he added, required acceptance that different paths could lead to the same truth and that every human being had equal dignity.He said the RSS had since continued dialogues with Muslims and Christians, even though results had been slow. Dialogue and service, he said, must proceed together. He cited the organisation\u2019s 1.3 lakh service projects and said assistance was provided without religious discrimination.Bhagwat also addressed questions about the RSS\u2019s public image. The organisation, he said, was once \u201cminuscule\u201d and ignored but had acquired \u201csome say\u201d in Indian society over its 100-year journey. He blamed doubts about it on \u201cwrong narratives\u201d and said they would disappear if people saw the organisation from within.Calling for work at the local level, he asked religious and community leaders to create examples of unity and selfless service in their own countries and gradually take the dialogue to provinces, districts and smaller communities. Changing entrenched attitudes would be \u201claborious, tedious and time-consuming\u201d, he acknowledged, urging participants not to abandon dialogue because it produced no immediate result. \u201cRSS with all its might is always with you,\u201d he said.The address came after days of controversy around the centenary-year event, organised by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue and supported by more than 200 Hindu American organisations. New York mayor Zohran Mamdani opposed the gathering, describing the RSS\u2019s vision as exclusionary, but acknowledged that the city might not have the authority to cancel a private event.<\/p>\n Share your thoughts in the comments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n