From Salman Khan to Karan Johar & Shilpa, Bollywood marks its presence at Mumbai RSS event; 'such response was unthinkable 20 yrs ago'

MUMBAI: Many Bollywood celebrities attended the two-day event—Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Shilpa Shetty, Vicky Kaushal, Akshay Kumar, Ananya Panday, Raveena Tandon, Ravi Dubey and Madhur Bhandarkar, among others—leading RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to comment that had the organisation invited people 20 years ago, it would not have got the same response.



Khan’s presence prompted Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut to take a dig at RSS. “Was it a welcome only for Salman Khan or are all Muslims now welcome in the Sangh and its shakhas? RSS should clarify,” he said.




RSS chief pushes for 3-child policy for healthy popn rate

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat reiterated a three child policy for a healthy population rate for the country, saying various studies showed that ‘three children per couple’ should be the norm if the population decline is to be stopped. Referring to the country’s total fertility rate touching 2.1, he said it is “being balanced thanks to Bihar”.

Speaking on the second day of an RSS outreach programme at Worli’s Nehru Centre, he said the Hindu population is declining due to conversion and illegal immigration. He said if a person converts voluntarily, there is no opposition, but “forced or inducement-based conversions are condemnable and the response to them would be ghar wapsi ”. On illegal immigration, he said while govt is implementing the “detect and deport” policy, people must be vigilant and report such cases to the authorities and desist from employing them.

He said global Hindu unity will eliminate the need for dependence on external forces to fight for rights and issues in any part of the world.

He also batted for Bharat Ratna for Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar. “Even without receiving the Bharat Ratna honour, Veer Savarkar rules over the hearts of millions of Bharatiyas. However, conferring Bharat Ratna on him would enhance the prestige of this honour itself.”

Bhagwat said given the country’s large population, it’s important to give work to people, and working on farms must be respected.

On ayurveda, he said there is now a ministry to promote it. “There should be an increase in practitioners and those using ayurveda. Allopathy has expanded because it provides quick relief. In ancient times, there was a vaidya for 10-12 villages and he provided fresh medicine from the nearby forest. If ayurveda is to flourish, then practitioners will have to go and work at the grassroots level,” he said.

On the Paris deal on climate change, Bhagwat said India is the only country that has fulfilled all its promises. “It is the West that exploited nature and not India. Those smokeemitting factories, the fertilisers that poison food—when will you ban them all?”