Removing discrimination, awakening feeling of nationalism in families will make country powerful: Bhagwat

Bareilly (UP): Hailing the Indian family system, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the country will become powerful when the feeling of nationalism is awakened in every family and urged Sangh members to work towards ending "casteism, inequality and untouchability" in society.

He said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will take up the cause of environmental protection and called for encouraging people to join the campaign of planting "One tree in the name of the nation".

"Till now, the Sangh has been mainly doing the task of nation-building through individual development. The effect of Sangh's efforts is now visible in various fields," he said.

Addressing RSS members and their families, Bhagwat said it is the responsibility of the 'Sangh Pracharak' to remove discrimination and create a social environment free from all evils.

"Casteism, inequality and untouchability have to be removed from society. Social arrogance and inferiority complex both should end. We have to do the work of connecting the society," he said.

Bhagwat also stressed the need for adopting native languages, attires, music and food to stay connected to the country's traditions and culture.

He said that the Sangh has expanded a lot in the last one hundred years and people of the country were looking towards the organisation with hope.

"People want to progress by staying connected to their native traditions and culture," the RSS chief.

Bhagwat was addressing "Karyakarta Parivar Milan" programme attended by RSS volunteers and their families at the Atal Auditorium of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohailkhand University.

"The family is the economic, social and cultural unit of the society. The Sangh has been trying to strengthen society and the country by trying to establish better coordination, mutual cooperation and harmony among families through 'Kutumbh Probodhan' programmes," Bhagwat said, adding the Indian family system was the best in the world.

"The nation will become powerful when the feeling of unity and nationalism is awakened in families," he said.

"That's why it is the effort of the Sangh to empower society by connecting the families of volunteers with the basic concepts of Indian culture. People have to adopt their 'mool bhasha, veshbhoosha, Bhajan, bhavan, Brahman and bhojan' (native language, attire, music, architecture, travel destinations and food) to stay connected with their traditions and culture," he said.

The Sangh's image in society is built only by the conduct of the volunteers, he said.

"The volunteers must sit at least one day a week with their and friends and families and have food and discuss topics related to the nation and cultural heritage," he said.

He also said that many social and economic problems will automatically be resolved if there is cooperation between affluent and deprived families.

The meetings held during Bhagwat's visit saw special discussions on dealing with the crisis created by the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources.

It was decided that environmental protection programmes will be taken up to make the earth and human life safe.

Bhagwat asked the volunteers to go to every village and serve the people and expand RSS branch in every district from the city to villages.

He said volunteers would plant saplings in homes and take care of them. He said people should be associated with the 'One tree in the name of the nation' campaign.