RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited a mosque and a madrassa in Delhi as part of what is seen as an outreach to Muslim community where he gave his suggestion to Muslims not to treat Hindus as ‘kafirs’ and refrain from using ‘jihad’. The ‘Sarsanghchalak’ visited the mosque on Kasturba Gandhi Marg, which also happens to be the office of All India Imam Organisation. He spent an hour talking to Umer Ahmad Ilyasi, the head of the body of imams. The day also saw him going to Madarssa Tajweedul Quran. The visit to the religious seminary, his first ever to a madrassa, was marked by Umer Ahmed Ilyasi describing Bhagwat as “Rashtra Pita” to the students. The RSS chief objected to the description saying that Gandhiji alone was the ‘Rashtra Pita’, while everyone else was ‘Bharat ki Santan’ (child of India).
However, Ilyasi again used the description while talking to a news channel, making it clear that his choice of words was deliberate.
Earlier, Bhagwat had met former LG of Delhi Najeeb Jung, former chief election commissioner SY Qureshi, former VC of AMU Lt General (Retd) Zameeruddin Shah, businessman Saeed Sherwani, and former MP and editor of Urdu daily ‘Nai Duniya’, Shahid Siddiqui, as part of an exercise aimed at strengthening communal amity. The meeting saw Bhagwat expressing misgivings about Hindus being described as ‘kafir’ or unbeliever and the refrain of jihad, the Islamic concept of holy war, saying these have led to tensions. They also raised the issue of Muslims being referred to as ‘Pakistanis’ and being asked to leave the country. “We discussed several issues for strengthening the country,” Ilyasi said, adding that Bhagwat had visited the mosque as well as the madrassa on his invitation.
