RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s assembly with a gaggle of Muslim intellectuals final month and the go to to a Delhi madrasa on Thursday have created headlines. “RSS Muslim Outreach,” say the headlines. Many have rushed to heap reward and credit score on Bhagwat for “reaching out” to Muslims, for “beginning a dialogue”, for attempting to “bridge the divide”.

After all, when a Sangh chief meets some outstanding Muslims or visits a mosque and a madrasa, it is fairly an occasion. And it is loaded with symbolism. And who may disagree with the significance of symbolism and dialogue in a democracy?

However amid all of the media hype and hoopla round these occasions, we should pause and discuss substance, as an alternative of simply getting carried away by the symbolism.

RSS leaders have been assembly Muslim leaders and influencers periodically. The Sangh has a particular arm known as “Rashtriya Muslim Manch” for the “Muslim outreach”. The RSS chief had not too long ago additionally met Maulana Arshad Madani of the Jamiat Ulema Hind, and one other group of Muslims in Mumbai earlier than that in 2019. Bhagwat additionally retains making occasional conciliatory remarks. Current is his recommendation to Hindus to “cease on the lookout for a shivling underneath each mosque” within the context of the Gyanvapi mosque controversy. A really welcome assertion certainly, and was taken as such.

However how a lot have all these periodic assembly, and occasional conciliatory feedback mattered on floor?

A sarsanghchalak isn’t any small deal. The RSS boss holds numerous sway over the swamsevaks, the federal government, the social and non secular our bodies representing Hindus. His good phrases should translate into some concrete modifications on the bottom: within the attitudes of the RSS-BJP state governments, on its foot troopers, on a whole lot of its offshoots.

Have we seen that taking place? Sadly, no.

Bhagwat visited the Delhi madrasa at a time when BJP governments in UP and Assam, that are stuffed with Sangh functionaries, have been focusing on madrasas in probably the most blatant method. Will his go to ship the wanted sign to those state governments? Or will it stay a photo-op, headline occasion? Throughout his interplay with the Delhi madrasa college students, Bhagwat informed them to check each Quran and Geeta. Will he welcome a Muslim cleric to one among his shakhas and advise swamsevaks or Saraswati Shishu Mandir college students to additionally learn the Quran and Bible together with the Bhagwad Geeta?

He additionally reportedly mentioned on the madrasa, and on the meet with Muslim intellectuals, that work must be performed to erase many misconceptions that Muslims have about Hindus. Have we ever seen the Sangh to work in the direction of misconceptions and prejudices that widespread Hindus have in the direction of Muslims?

At the moment, Muslims really feel threatened and focused underneath a regime that has many lifelong swamsevaks on the very high. Bhagwat additionally must relay the message of reconciliation and concord down that lane. His followers, each on-line and on the bottom, take immense pleasure in degrading, demonizing, and harming Muslims day in and day trip. Sangh followers in numerous establishments assist and abet this focusing on and each day humiliation. Bhagwat’s buddies within the governments instigate the lynch mobs and have fun the massacre.

The road of Bhagwat’s arguments in each these conferences was to place Muslims in a nook and to color them as an issue. That Muslims have to do X, Y, Z to turn out to be acceptable to the Hindu majority. And that is the essential RSS philosophy: that the Muslims should merge their identification into the bigger Hindu identification, which, in Bhagwat’s worldview, can be the only Indian identification. The RSS would not have fun variety, it seeks uniformity by means of a convergence of all different identities right into a Hindu cultural identification, which it parades as Indianess. And it cleverly shrouds its designs in jargon like “Hindus are inherently secular”, “Hindus have fun variety”, “all Indians are mainly Hindus”, and so on, and so on. Mainly, all identities turn out to be subservient to the bigger Hindu identification.

This so-called “outreach” additionally must be seen within the context of latest occasions, when the world has taken severe word of Hindutva excesses in India. Gulf nations breathed hearth over the Prophet insult by BJP leaders, international media is recording the descent of Indian media right into a hate machine with the lively help of the federal government. India’s spiral into rank majoritarianism is getting observed and known as out on the worldwide stage. The hate fests within the identify of Dharam Sansads have introduced a lot shame to the nice Indian democracy. And all that is taking place within the identify of Hinduism and open anti-Muslim hatred.

So, the delicate contact, from the soft-spoken Bhagwat. It is welcome. To the 5 intellectuals, he mentioned that the Dharam Sansad sorts are fringe and never underneath his management. Truthful sufficient. However what stops Bhagwat from calling them out clearly and strongly if he would not determine with their vitriol? Aren’t Muslim people and organizations anticipated to shout condemnation from their rooftops after each Muslim extremist act anyplace on the planet? And Muslims try this. Why would not the RSS chief use his excessive workplace to request the Centre and state governments to crack down on such parts who’re out to shred the very cloth of Indian society with impunity?

What’s democracy if not a dialogue? Nevertheless it must be a dialogue in true sense and spirit. The Muslim teams sought a gathering with Bhagwat within the perception that he can result in an actual change within the social scene of this nation and he responded.

It is a good symbolism, however the outreach has to start out from right here. And that can take some actual braveness, conviction on Bhagwat’s half.

(Mohd Asim is a Senior Editor at NDTV 24X7)

Disclaimer: These are the non-public opinions of the writer.