![]() ![]() ![]() The group of five that met Bhagwat last month included former poll panel chief S.Y. It came on a day the news of a meeting last month between the Sangh chief and a group of prominent Muslims broke and also raids took place across the country on properties associated with the PFI, dubbed an “Islamic terror outfit” by the Right wing. The timing of the unusual outreach was significant. “We discussed several issues for strengthening our country,” Ilyasi said. Ilyasi later claimed the RSS chief visited the mosque and the madrasa on his invitation. RSS leaders claimed that at this juncture Bhagwat intervened and said there was only one “ rashtra pita”, seeking to indirectly refer to Mahatma Gandhi, and that all others were “Bharat ke santan” (children of Bharat). Here too, addressing the students, Ilyasi described the RSS chief as “ rashtra pita”. Ilyasi, the chief of the all-India organisation of imams who lead prayers at mosques, later accompanied Bhagwat and the others to the madrasa. Asked about Bhagwat’s past remark that Muslims and Hindus in India had the same DNA, Ilyasi said: “Whatever he has said is right since he is the father of the nation.” ![]() Talking to reporters, Ilyasi termed Bhagwat “ rashtra pita”. It is part of the continuous general samvad (dialogue),” Ambekar said. “The sarsanghchalak (RSS chief) meets people from all walks of life. RSS publicity chief Sunil Ambekar said the visits and the meeting were part of an ongoing outreach by Bhagwat. RSS leaders sought to temper the possibility of Sangh supporters not taking too kindly to the overtures by saying Bhagwat’s visit should not be projected as a trip to a mosque as the shrine where he went also houses the office and residence of Ilyasi and that the RSS chief went to meet the All India Imam Organisation head at his office.īhagwat and the other Sangh leaders first reached the mosque at a roundabout in central Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg to meet Ilyasi and later drove to a madrasa in north Delhi to interact with students. ![]()
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