The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as part of its nationwide plans, will organise a mass outreach programme in Tamil Nadu from January 1 to 15, ahead of the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, K. Kumarasamy, RSS president of the north Tamil Nadu region, said here on Wednesday.
The consecration is a happy and proud moment for everyone in the country, and to celebrate it, the RSS will distribute an invitation to visit the temple, a picture of Lord Ram, and a holy offering from the temple to all households through a door-to-door campaign. On January 22, the day of the consecration, it will organise bhajans across temples and at other places.
The RSS, which is approaching its centenary year, has grown significantly in Tamil Nadu in the last 10 to 15 years with ‘shakhas’ now being organised daily at around 2,400 places, besides more weekly and monthly meetings, he added. Addressing the media on the strategic outcomes of the meeting of its national executive in Gujarat this week, particularly for Tamil Nadu, he said the organisation would be focussing on social justice, harmony among castes, preservation of family values, environmental protection and responsible citizenry to bring about a change in society.
The focus will also be on ensuring social justice and creating harmony by discarding differences based on caste, language and region.
Asked whether the RSS was tapping into the ‘social justice’ vocabulary, often associated with the Dravidian movement, to make itself more relevant in Tamil Nadu, he said the organisation for long had a separate wing to work for social harmony.
Mr. Kumarasamy said that while the organisation did not aim to abolish castes, it wanted to abolish caste-based discrimination and untouchability. “Those who wanted to abolish castes have themselves disappeared,” he said, adding that a degree of inequality was a “natural phenomenon” and had to be expected in society. He said that what was important was to create mutual understanding and harmony. A stronger person should help a weaker person and not try to oppress him, he added. For this Deepavali, the RSS members should invite their dalit friends to their homes and share a meal with them, he said.
Clarifying its stand on the Tamil Nadu government’s measure to make qualified persons to become priests in temples, irrespective of their castes, he said that while the RSS was all for persons from any caste becoming priests even in Agama-based temples, their qualification should be validated by a group of religious leaders. On inter-caste marriages, he said the RSS did not oppose them as long as the “love was true”; further, that love should not be misused for appropriating the bridegroom’s wealth or for religious conversion.
He said the Sangh would also focus on preserving family values, which according to him were on the decline, and developing a citizenry which not only fought for its rights but also realised its duties.
