RSS a social organisation working for all sections of society not a political outfit Sunil Ambekar

    New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) The RSS on Thursday said it should not be attacked politically as it is a social organisation working for every section of the society and the progress of the country.
     Replying to queries at a press conference held to brief reporters about a three-day meeting of 'prant pracharaks' beginning on Friday here, RSS national publicity and media department head Sunil Ambekar said the Sangh connects with the society through its workers at the grassroots level in an "organic manner".
     "In the Sangh process, the entire society is in our sight. And this is the reason today the work of the Sangh is expanding nationwide, reaching every corner of the country," he said, when asked for his comment on critics often alleging that there is no space for members of the backward communities in the Sangh.
     "So I think that while these questions are being discussed politically, the Sangh should be spared. It is connecting every section of society in its own way. People are joining it in every way. The Sangh can be understood only by looking at it from the perspective of the Sangh," he added.
     People across all sections of the society, including those belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBC), are associated with the Sangh as volunteers and office-bearers, fulfilling assigned responsibilities, an RSS functionary said.
     "There is no discrimination on the lines of caste or community in the RSS," he added.
     Ambekar said that a large number of people are connecting with RSS due to "positive topics" that it has taken up, like the transformation of society, taking the country on the path of progress.
     "A lot of people are connecting with these topics of the country's self-respect and are also supporting it. The support we are getting for our work has definitely made many things clear about how people view this issue or the Sangh," he added.
    Asked for comment on the opposition parties' attack over Dattatreya Hosabale's remarks on 'secular' and ‘socialist’ words in the Preamble of the Constitution, Ambekar said the RSS general secretary had recalled the atrocities committed on people and the Constitution during the Emergency days and suggested that a debate should happen on them.
    "The comments made by Sarkaryavah Datta ji are very clear. On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, he recalled what happened during the Emergency, such as atrocities against people in jails, what happened politically, and the atrocities committed against the Constitution. He recalled all kinds of atrocities," he said.
    "Certainly, these atrocities should be discussed on the occasion of 50 years. He had raised the point that what should be done on which of those things, (and said that) there should be a debate on them. So, it should be taken in the same sense," he added.
    Ambekar said the Sangh is a pan-India social organisation and amid all political "tika tippani" (criticism), a big section of the society is connecting with it, extending their support.

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