Oppn Parties Lash Out at Mohan Bhagwat Over 'Lion and Wild Dogs' Analogy at World Hindu Congress

Nagpur/New Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's strong pitch for the consolidation of Hindus has drawn sharp reaction from opposition parties.

Speaking at the second World Hindu Congress in Chicago on Friday, Bhagwat said Hindus had no “aspiration of dominance" and the community would prosper only when it worked as a society.

"If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that," the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief said. "We want to make the world better. We have no aspiration of dominance. Our influence is not a result of conquest or colonisation," he added.

Taking on Bhagwat for his remarks, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the RSS was demeaning others. "The RSS is trying to demean people by calling others dogs and assuming themselves as the tiger (sic)," Owaisi said. “This has been the language of RSS and people will reject it."

Condemning Bhagwat’s speech, Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar said the RSS chief used the ‘dog’ reference for "opposition parties" in the country. "I condemn this 'mansikta' (mentality) of Mohan Bhagwat. He has referred to opposition parties in the country as dogs," the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader said.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, too, slammed the RSS and alleged that its ideology was "anti-Hindu". "The ideology of RSS and BJP is anti-Hindu and they only know how to do caste politics. The day they stop dividing Hindus on the basis of caste, every Hindu, and people from other religions as well, will be lions," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

Congress leader Sachin Sawant echoed Malik’s sentiments. "RSS ideology is anti-Hindu. It is known for hatred towards other castes and religions. It is shameful of the RSS chief to describe any religion this way."

Defending Bhagwat’s comments, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said the RSS chief has always spoken for the welfare of Hindu society and the country.

The World Hindu Congress marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago.

(With inputs from PTI)