RSS leader says violence 'necessary' to protect non-violence
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Ahmedabad: Violence is “necessary” sometimes to protect the idea of non-violence, senior RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi said on Thursday. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 'Hindu Spiritual & Service Fair', also known as 'Hindu Adhyatmik Seva Mela', he said that Hindus must do what others would label as “adharma” to protect ‘dharma’, PTI reported.
"Hindus are always committed to protecting their religion. To protect our 'dharma', we have to do even those things which others will label as 'adharma' and such things were done by our ancestors," he said at the event organized at the Gujarat University grounds here.
Citing the battle of Mahabharat, he said Pandavas kept aside the rules of the war to eliminate 'adharma'.
"There is no denying that the Hindu religion has the element of non-violence (embedded in it). However, sometimes we have to resort to violence to protect the idea of non-violence. Otherwise, the idea of non-violence will never be safe. Our great ancestors gave that message to us," said Mr Joshi.
According to the RSS leader, the people of India have to take everyone along on the path to peace because the one who is capable of taking everyone along is the one who can establish peace.
He said there will be no peace if a religion does not allow others to follow their respective faiths.
"There is no country other than India capable of taking along all other nations. 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family) is our idea of spirituality. If we consider the entire world as a family, there will not be any conflict," he said.
"When we say that India should become stronger, we are actually giving an assurance to the world that a stronger India and a stronger Hindu community are beneficial for everyone because we will protect the weaker and the downtrodden. This is the ideology attached to the world Hindu," said Mr Joshi.
The RSS leader said it is a myth across the world that only a few institutions like the church or the missionaries are doing selfless service.