Nagpur, Oct 22 (PTI): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said “small episodes” that “get exaggerated” cannot damage Hindu culture and the country will always stand as one.
”Small episodes happen. They get exaggerated and presented in a big way… Small incidents keep happening but these cannot distort Indian culture, Hindu culture,” Bhagwat said in his annual Dussehra address, without making any specific reference to the spate of recent incidents that have been seen as rising intolerance.
A Muslim man was lynched in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, on September 28 following rumours that he had consumed beef in a state where cow slaughter is banned. In Jammu & Kashmir, an independent legislator was assaulted in the assembly on the issue of beef. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has been targeting any event that is linked to Pakistan.
“Since time immemorial, it [Hindu culture] respects diversity, coordinates among diversities to establish unity… This is Hindutva,” Bhagwat said.
State-owned Doordarshan telecast Bhagwat’s address live for the second year in a row.