An entire community cannot be held responsible for the mistakes of a few, the Rashtiya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that the pandemic calls for national unity, and asked citizens to be aware of those who want to exploit the opportunity to “break the nation” and create tensions between communities.
Bhagwat also said that the pandemic has also shown the need to create a new development model, which should have Swadeshi at its core. The RSS has long-held swadeshi, which refers to boosting domestic capabilities and production and reducing external economic dependence and inter-linkages, as a core ideological belief. He also underlined the necessity of following the government’s protocol on social distancing.
“If anyone out of anger or fear does something wrong, we cannot blame the whole community and distance from them,” Bhagwat said in a televised address. This is widely being interpreted as a reference to the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, where thousands got infected. At the same time, Bhagwat warned against any attempt to disintegrate the country. He said it is incumbent on community leaders to ensure that people are not provoked by those who are “anti-India” to react with “anger or fear” to government’s instructions on physical distancing.