RSS, Togadia decide to work together to ‘unite’ Hindus

In his meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Praveen Togadia raised the issue of Hindus “not trusting anyone politically”; “This needs to be checked,” he said

For the first time in six years, since he left the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), firebrand right-wing leader Praveen Togadia met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat last Sunday. The two have decided to work together to “unite Hindus”.

An Ahmedabad-based cancer surgeon and a former Swayamsevak, Mr. Togadia had resigned from the post of VHP’s international president in 2018 after his relationship with the Sangh Parivar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi soured. He remained in the VHP for 35 years and was a key player in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise in Gujarat. An open critic of the Prime Minister, Mr. Togadia founded the Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) after leaving the RSS.

“The Ram temple movement has achieved its goal to unite Hindus above caste equations across India. But now, after the culmination of the movement, it is being felt that the Hindu is again going back to square one and the same needs to be checked. Both I and the RSS chief shared the same feelings on this issue,” Mr. Togadia told The Hindu.

The Ram Temple was a poll promise of the BJP for decades. However, the party did not reap much electoral benefits and got the least number of seats in the Lok Sabha election ever since it came to power at the Centre in 2014.

In his meeting with the RSS chief, Mr. Togadia raised the issue of Hindus “not trusting anyone politically”. “People who have contributed to the Ram temple movement feel that there is some problem regarding credibility in political circle. This needs to be checked,” he said. 

On how the RSS and AHP will work to unite Hindus, Mr. Togadia said both will urge small and big organisations working for Hindus across India to come together. “I have an association of 10,000 expert doctors in India who give free healthcare facility to Hindus. Some other organisations have teachers who teach Hindu children for free. Organisations with similar interests which physically train people will be asked to give strength training to Hindu women so that they can save themselves from attacks,” he said.

He said a society struggling for basic needs like healthcare, education and women safety cannot think of uniting for the “cause of dharma” and hence these necessities need to be addressed.

“I told Mr. Bhagwat that when Sia and Sunni can come together to save Islam, why we and all the big and small organisations working for the same cause cannot come together to save Hinduism,” Mr. Togadia said.

The safety of Hindus outside India, be it in Pakistan, Bangladesh, the US, Britain and Canada is a concern for the RSS and the same was discussed at length between Mr. Bhagwat and Mr. Togadia. The two collectively agreed that “something needs to be done” to safeguard the rights of Hindus living abroad.

“Even within India, the safety and security of Hindus is not satisfactory. For example, in Manipur. In Kashmir too, the Kashmiri Hindus have not been rehabilitated five years after the abrogation of Article 370,” he said.

Sources said the meeting was spontaneous. The two greeted each other at the Dasara celebrations in Nagpur on October 12 and decided to meet a day later.

Published - October 16, 2024 10:41 pm IST