Nagpur: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the first time in its history had a woman guest on Wednesday at the outfit's annual Vijayadashmi festival here.
The Vijayadashmi is of great significance to the organization after Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded it on this very day in 1925, according to NDTV.
The woman who made the occasion memorable was mountaineer Santosh Yadav as the chief guest of the programme that was opened by none other than RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Bhagwat also performed the 'weapon worship' (shastra puja) on the occasion.
Santosh Yadav created a world record by becoming the first woman in the world to scale Mount Everest twice.
Addressing the gathering, Bhagwat called for giving equal rights to women in all places. He added that treating a woman as the mother is good, but restricting them indoors is not good. There is a need to give equal rights to women to take decisions everywhere.
He was quoted as saying that all the work that the mother power can do cannot be done by man because women have so much power. And therefore it is important to enlighten, and empower them.
As for the government at the centre, he said that the government is leading the country towards self-reliance, adding that importance and stature of the country has increased internationally.