RSS chief holds fresh dialogue with Muslim leaders

With national unity and communal harmony in focus, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with leaders of the Muslim community in the national capital.

This marked Bhagwat’s second significant outreach to the community following his first-ever visit to a mosque in September 2022.

A common thread between the two meetings was All India Imams Organisation chairman and chief imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, who had hosted Bhagwat at the Kasturba Gandhi Marg mosque in central Delhi on 22 September 2022. Once again, today’s dialogue took place at Ilyasi’s initiative.

Describing the engagement as a trust-building exercise, Ilyasi said, “The meeting was a major initiative to bridge the Hindu-Muslim divide. Our principal aim is to continue talking. We may practise different faiths and follow different paths, but we are all Indians and must work to advance national interests.”

Around 50 Muslim clerics and scholars from across India attended the meeting at Haryana Bhavan. Participants included Chief Imams from Haryana and Gujarat, Grand Muftis from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and representatives from the Deoband madrasa. From the RSS, Bhagwat and joint general secretary Krishna Gopal were present.

Ilyasi noted that the discussion covered a broad range of topics related to temples, mosques, madrassas and gurukuls and was not limited to specific flashpoints such as the Gyanvapi dispute or the hijab issue.

In 2022, while hosting Bhagwat, Ilyasi had described him as “Rashtrapita” and emphasised the importance of national unity.

Bhagwat, for his part, has consistently taken a firm public stance against rising temple-mosque disputes. “We have been living in harmony for a long time and need to create a model of this. After the consecration of the Ram Temple, some think they can become leaders of Hindus by raking up similar issues elsewhere. This is not acceptable,” he said during a speech in Pune in December 2024.

In the same speech, the RSS chief had also said, “Everyone is equal,” while posing and answering the rhetorical question: “Who is a majority, who is a minority?”

Thursday’s meeting came as the RSS prepares to mark its centenary year in October and the All India Imams Organisation celebrates its 50th anniversary.

India