NEW DELHI, JUNE 01,
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the most misunderstood organisation in the country and it has been victim of a relentless misinformation campaign, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.
He was speaking at the 8th Nanaji Memorial Lecture.
Nanaji Deshmukh was an ideologue of the RSS. The previous edition of the lecture was delivered by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Mr. Naidu said that recently, he came across a Wikipedia entry referring him to as the first RSS member to occupy the office of Vice-President.
“Yes. My baptism into public life was through the RSS. This organisation taught me a lot about life, values, our culture and the nation and my duties to the nation and fellow citizens. It offered me a perspective of humanity, a sense of purpose in life and a framework for positive action,” he said.
Correct understanding
“One needs to be free of prejudices to correctly understand this world’s largest voluntary missionary organisation. When one does so, one tends to like it and appreciate it,” Mr. Naidu said.To defend the RSS, the Vice-President liberally quoted Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, former President Zakir Hussain and scholar Christopher Jafferlot.
His defence of the RSS comes at a time when former President Pranab Mukerjee is under fire for accepting an invitation to speak at the RSS headquarters on June 7.
“From my association with RSS, I can assure you that it is all about self-discipline, self-respect, self-defence, self-reliance,” Mr. Naidu added.
