Muslim intellectuals meet RSS Chief Bhagwat discuss plan to strengthen communal harmony in country

By Jatin Takkar
    New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) A group of Muslim intellectuals, including former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and former Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, recently met RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and chalked out a plan to strengthen communal harmony in the country, sources said on Tuesday.
    Former Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Lt General (retd) Zamiruddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui, and philanthropist Saeed Shervani were also present in the closed-door meeting recently held at Udasin Ashram, the temporary office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), sources said.
    Wide range discussions were held on strengthening communal harmony and improving intra-community relations during the two-hour-long meeting, sources said.
    Both Bhagwat and the group of intellectuals agreed that without strengthening communal harmony and reconciliation among communities, the country cannot progress, sources present in the meeting told PTI.
    "Both sides appreciated the need for communal harmony and to remove differences and misunderstandings among communities. A plan was chalked out to pursue this initiative," sources said.
    The discussions also revolved around on following a Gandhian approach for the overall well-being of the country, they added.
     In September 2019, Bhagwat had met Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind head Maulana Syed Arshad Madani at the RSS office here and discussed a host of issues, including strengthening unity between Hindus and Muslims and incidents of mob lynching.
     The meeting was coordinated by Ram Lal, Sangh's senior functionary and former organisational secretary of the BJP. PTI JTR RHL

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)