Pranab skipped ‘minority’ mention: RSS mouthpiece

Vibha Sharma 

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 13

Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s address was one that could not have been made at any platform other than that of the Sangh and he did not even once mention the word minority, RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ has said in its latest issue, covering and analysing the June 7 event that continues to make political waves.

The mouthpiece said the invitation to Pranab and its acceptance by him came as a “shock” only to those who could not see developments in national life beyond politics.

The need to maintain plurality, as Mukherjee had stressed while addressing the ‘Tritiya Sangh Shiksha Varg’ event, was exactly what the RSS had been promoting for years, said ‘Organiser’ editor Prafulla Ketkar. 

In one of the columns, political analyst Sandeep Singh pointed out that Mukherjee “concluded his speech with Vande Mataram — an anathema to the Congress and the Islamists in this country”. “This was a speech about the nation, nationalism and patriotism in the context of India that is Bharat. The speech did not even once mention the word minority. It has been ages since one heard someone from the Congress background talking about all Indians as being equal. The speech talked about India and its plurality, diversity and unity,” he said. 

As per Ketkar, while many connotations were derived and analysis would continue for days to come, the real message of the former President’s Nagpur visit was “more national than political”.