Claiming that the world only understands the language of power, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief (the Sarsanghchalak) Mohan Bhagwat, while addressing a gathering of saints in Haridwar, said that India will talk about non-violence but will also "carry a stick."
"Everything will not be achieved at once. I do not have the power at all…it is with people. They have the control. When they are ready, everyone’s behaviour changes. We are preparing them; you also do it. We will walk together as an example, without fear. We will talk about non-violence, but we will walk with a stick. And that stick will be a heavy one," he said, reported by the Indian Express.
On the topic of Hindu Rashtra, he said that the idea is nothing different from Sanatan Dharma.
"The objectives of religion are the objectives of India. Swami Vivekananda had said religion is India’s life…. India’s progress is not possible without the progress of religion. Sanatan Dharma is only Hindu Rashtra. The progress of India is assured," the Sarsanghchalak said.
He further went to say that Swami Vivekananda and Maharshi Aurobindo’s dream India will be realised in less than two decades.
"You spoke about 20-25 years, but if we increase our speed, I say 10-15 years. In that period, we will see…the India that Swami Vivekananda and Maharshi Aurobindo had imagined,” Bhagwat asserted at the gathering.
"Astrological predictions suggest that we will realise the dream of 'Akhand Bharat' in the next 20-25 years," he added.
His speech comes in the backdrop of the violence, stone pelting, and arson that rocked several states across India on the occasion of Ram Navami on 10 April.
The areas of unrest were Khargone and Barwani in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Goa, Mumbai, and even Jawahar Lal Nehru University in Delhi, where several students were injured.
(With inputs from the Indian Express and the Times of India)
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