Missionaries take advantage when people lose faith in society: RSS chief Bhagwat on religious conversions

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said missionaries take advantage of the situations wherein people feel the society is not with them, in an apparent reference to religious conversions.

He was addressing an event on Sunday in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district, where he dedicated to the people the samadhi of Govindnath Maharaj.

"We don't see our own people. We don't go to them and ask them. But some missionary from thousands of miles away comes and lives there, eats their food, speaks their language and then converts them," Bhagwat said.

Over the course of 100 years, people came to India to change everything, he said.

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They have been working here for centuries, but failed to gain anything as our roots remained strong thanks to the efforts of our ancestors, Bhagwat said.

"Efforts are made to uproot them. So, the society should understand that deceit. We have to strengthen the faith," he said.

Deceptive people raise some questions about religion to waver the faith, he said, adding, "Our society never faced such people earlier, so people get sceptical...We have to remove this weakness."

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"Even after this, our society doesn't waver. But people change when they lose faith and feel that the society is not with them," Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief said an entire village in Madhya Pradesh became "sanatani" 150 years after locals got converted to Christianity as they got help from Kalyan Ashram (an RSS-backed voluntary organisation).

"We don't need to go abroad to spread our faith as 'Sanatan dharma' doesn't believe in such practices. We need to remove the deviation and distortion of the Bharatiya traditions and faith here (in India) and strengthen the roots of our 'dharma'," he said.

Bhagwat also addressed a Dharma Sabha and visited Gurdwara Badi Sangat to pay obeisance.

After visiting the gurdwara, he said Guru Granth Sahib is a source of inspiration for the Hindus.

On Monday, Bhagwat is scheduled to inaugurate the office building of Dr Hedgewar Memorial Committee at Saraswati Nagar and also address the Sangh volunteers in Burhanpur.