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Unity in diversity is India’s strength, says RSS chief Bhagwat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also asked political leaders to be careful while making statements. “We should work to ensure that the country becomes “Mahasatta” (global power) in the world”, Joshi said.

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“What is the chord that can keep our diverse society together?” Hindu culture has been preserved in our country for ages.

Without giving details, Bhagwat acknowledged that “small incidents” had occurred in the country but said they were being “blown up”.

Bhagwat listed “inclusivity” as the core of Indian culture and said the RSS stands for unity in diversity.

Amid accusations of attempts at saffronisation of the education system, the RSS supremo said there is a need for reforming the sector to make it affordable to the common man.

As many cultures and communities co-exist in India, it is important to care for diversity and maintain harmony, he remarked. “Our thoughts may differ, but we must walk hand-in-hand”.

He praised Modi’s initiatives such as “Jhan Dhan Yojana”, and said that no one raised the topic of sustainable governance until two years ago. “And yet today, we talk about how Ram ruled…Today we want Ram Rajya not Ravan Rajya in India”, he said.

But India’s growing population was a cause for concern, he said. “India is evolving in a new look, world is expecting India to show them the way ahead”.

“In times of crises and natural disasters like the quake in Nepal, water crisis in Maldives or evacuation of people of various other countries from war-torn Yemen, India played a good role”, the RSS chief said.

DD’s maiden live telecast of his address at the “Vijayadashmi Utsav” previous year had invited flak from the Opposition but the public broadcaster has insisted that its coverage is from the “news point of view”.

“Private channels are doing live coverage of it then why should Doordarshan not do it?”

Speaking before chief guest V.K. Saraswat, the former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation who is now a Niti Ayog member, Bhagwat praised the Planning Commission’s new avatar for its “sensitivity to environment, ethics and for its wholesome approach towards agriculture, based on the philosophy that dharma (righteousness) and sanskar (tradition) are central to life and not arth-kaam (wealth and worldliness)”.

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Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis were among those present at the event.

Doordarshan to telecast Mohan Bhagwat's Dussehra address live