New York, August 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that a Hindu who believes Muslims should have no place in India ceases to be a Hindu, stressing that Hindutva upholds human dignity, religious diversity and the belief that different paths can lead to the same truth.
Speaking at the “One World, One Humanity” faith leaders’ conference in New York, Bhagwat recalled a question raised by Muslims during his 2018 lecture series in Delhi about the RSS’s concept of a Hindu Rashtra.
“In 2018, during my lecture series in Delhi, several Muslim brothers present there asked me, ‘You are a Hindu organisation. You speak of Hindu Rashtra. What about us Muslims? Will you drive us out?’ I told them, ‘No, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he ceases to be a Hindu,’” Bhagwat said.
He said acceptance of diversity and recognition of the equal worth of every individual were central to Hindu identity.
“If you want to call yourself Hindu, you must believe that all paths lead to the same goal. Every human being has dignity, and there is no difference between human beings. All these differences decorate nature, and we have to acknowledge them. But the reality that is always present is that we are one,” he said.
Bhagwat told the gathering that he was neither a religious scholar nor a religious authority, but had gained his perspective through work in Indian society and its longstanding traditions.
“I am not a religious scholar, nor a religious authority like you, but I am working in a society which traditionally says that religions might be different, but humanity is one. Truth is one, and humanity is a product of that truth. So humanity is one,” he said.
He added that the same truth could be described in different ways depending on how individuals perceived it.
Bhagwat also spoke about India’s tradition of coexistence, saying it had survived foreign invasions and the loss of several elements of the country’s civilisational heritage.
“Somehow, it happened in the course of history. I cannot point to the moment. After that, our society and our country became targets of foreign invasions, and so many things were lost. But that tradition still exists, which teaches common people the same thing: one world, one humanity,” he said.
He said people of different denominations continue to live together in India because the country had traditionally provided shelter to all.
“People of all denominations live together because, traditionally, Bharat has given shelter to everybody,” he added.
Bhagwat said religious leaders had an ongoing responsibility to educate society about human unity and counter tendencies driven by materialism, the pursuit of influence and feelings of superiority.
He acknowledged that reinforcing these values would be a difficult and time-consuming task but said it remained necessary in the prevailing global environment.
The RSS was founded in Nagpur in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. It describes itself as a volunteer-based cultural organisation with a nationwide network of local branches.
Bhagwat has served as the organisation’s Sarsanghchalak, or chief, since 2009. His remarks in New York came during the RSS centenary period and focused on social harmony, religious coexistence and the idea of humanity as one family.
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