By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Several liberal, secular and Muslim groups have objected to the live address of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on state run TV Doordarshan on the occasion of Dussehra.
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) termed the telecast as a “dangerous tradition,” calling RSS a controversial religious and political organisation, which has camouflaged itself as a so-called social outfit.
SDPI national president A. Sayeed, in a statement, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government’s green signal for the telecast is a serious threat to the diversity of the country and our secular values.
It is a dangerous misuse of the state machinery. He said that the RSS does not have a positive outlook or agenda and can divide the nation into many parts in due course. It is state “majoritarianism” which must be resisted.
Welfare Party of India also criticized the live telecast. Party General Secretary Dr. S.Q.R. Ilyas in a statement said that it was a mockery that a controversial organization alleged to have role behind the brutal killing of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation was given live coverage on the very next day of Gandhi Jayanti.
“It is saddening to see that the Doordarshan has given red carpet welcome to the chief of such a controversial organization. The country’s secular and non-communal values are under serious threat. The DD chief must be called before the Parliamentary Committee and sought explanation. The sins of RSS cannot be so easily whitewashed,” Dr. Ilyas said.