Toronto, August 31, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said Hindu identity cannot be confined to any particular language, form of worship or way of life, stressing that respect for diversity and recognition of an underlying unity are central to the Hindu worldview.
Addressing a gathering of more than 2,000 Hindus and members of the wider community in the Greater Toronto Area, Bhagwat said differences among people were natural but should not obscure their fundamental unity.
“When I say Hindu, the word Hindu cannot be defined by any specific language, through any specific worship, or through any living style,” he said.
“All these are there. These are diversities of human beings. Hindus respect all, Hindus accept all. They don’t mind,” he added.
Bhagwat was speaking at a Hindu Vishwa Bandhu gathering themed “Embracing the world in friendship”. The event was attended by community and faith leaders, scholars, professionals and representatives of organisations from across Canada.
He said India’s civilisational traditions had taught people to recognise unity beneath visible diversity. India, he noted, has historically been home to multiple castes, faiths, languages, traditions and lifestyles, without requiring those differences to disappear for society to remain united.
“We have to serve, accept, respect this diversity because it is expression of unity. It beautifies it. It is the decoration. We celebrate it,” Bhagwat said.
“Diversity is natural. Unity is the reality,” he added.
Bhagwat referred to an ancient account involving King Janak to explain his distinction between changing external circumstances and a deeper, enduring reality. He said people experience differences in their material lives, but humanity remains fundamentally one.
“The whole earth is one family,” he said, adding that everything is divine and therefore deserves equal dignity.
The RSS chief said recognition of shared existence naturally leads to service and compassion. He stressed that such compassion should not be viewed as the exclusive preserve of Hindus but as a fundamentally human quality.
He illustrated the point by asking whether a person could comfortably eat a meal in front of someone who was hungry without offering help or turning away.
Bhagwat said human beings have the ability both to deprive others and to share with those in need, making values essential in determining how that ability is used.
He also said Hindu society should demonstrate its principles through conduct rather than impose them on others.
“Hindu society must provide example,” he said. “We are the leaders who lead from within and lead by example.”
The RSS was founded in Nagpur in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. The organisation completed 100 years in 2025 and identifies social service and organisation of Hindu society among its central objectives.
Bhagwat has served as RSS Sarsanghchalak since 2009. His Toronto engagement was part of his North American visit, which also included programmes in New York.
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