Unfair to compare RSS with Islamic State: Sangh functionary

Hyderabad, Nov 4: Stating that India would reject any extremist ideology, a senior RSS functionary today said it was not fair to compare Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with terror outfit Islamic State.

"If you say the mindset of Islamic State and RSS is the same, we would not have existed in this democratic country. India as a nation would have rejected an ideology which is extremist.

"Extremist ideology never survived in India. Naxalism did not survive in India. It cannot be a mainstream ideology," RSS' Telangana State Secretary Chandrasekhar told reporters here.

RSS worked on the basis of Indian ethos like 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the entire world is one family) and unity in diversity, he said.

"It is not fair to compare with an organisation (IS) which is killing thousands," he said.

He was briefing reporters on the recently held Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) in Ranchi where it sought a review of population policy. The return of awards against "intolerance" in the country is a "planned event by some intellectuals who are out to damage the prestige of this country", Chandrasekhar alleged.

"They want to give a wrong note to the world that something bad is happening in this country which is not good for them. It is not proper for the intellectuals to reduce our international standing in the name of intolerance at a time when the country is growing," he said.

There are many avenues available to the intellectuals to express their anger, he said.

Saying that incidents of alleged intolerance have not happened suddenly in the last one year, he wondered why the intellectuals did not do so when terrorist acts and communal riots had taken place earlier.

"They should take part in a healthy debate instead of doing something that hurts the country's image," he said. One or two incidents that happened now are being hyped into growing intolerance, he claimed.

PTI