On the eve of 75th Independence Day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stokes fresh controversy, says all languages of the country are national languages

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Mumbai: On the eve of the 75^th anniversary of India’s Independence, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday once again stoked the language controversy arguing that in order to take the country to greater heights, it was essential for every citizen to embrace all castes and all languages. 

Addressing the annual Independence Day function in Nagpur, Bhagwat said that “all languages of the country are national languages” while remarking that people could pick any Indian language in order to communicate among themselves. 

His statements come in the backdrop of the push given by the BJP and the Modi government towards promoting Hindi as the national language across all states – a move that has drawn a lot of flak from the southern states. He said this speaking at an event titled ‘Bharat@2047: My Vision My Action.’ 

Mohan Bhagwat said, “The whole world looks towards India for its ability to manage diversity efficiently…We may have small differences in language, dress, cultures, ways of worship but we need to have a mind that will see the big picture and not get mired in these things. We need to embrace all members of our family (alluding to India as one family). We need to look with affection upon people from all castes and look at all languages in the country as national languages.”

The RSS chief who earlier hoisted the national flag at the RSS headquarters on Saturday, further said while the world was replete with contradictions, it was only India that could manage its dualities and lead the way in “diversity management”. “The world looks up to India when it comes to managing diversity. India has taught the world how to move ahead by taking everyone along,” added Mohan Bhagwat. 

Contrasting the attitude of India with that of the United States and China, the RSS chief said that despite the US being prosperous and a world leader in technology, it wielded its stick over other countries as it “needed a lot of resources for its small population”. 

Mohan Bhagwat also said that we gave needless importance to caste and other systems which were used in the past to create a divide between people and communities. 

Stressing upon the need to maintain unity, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said, “It is chiefly because we first forgot our own wisdom and knowledge and later the land was conquered by foreign invaders who mainly came from the northwest region. We unnecessarily gave importance to caste and other similar structures which sowed divisions within us.”