Everyone should make efforts for India's unity and integrity: Bhagwat

NAGPUR: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said instead of showing our strength to the enemies on the country's borders, we are fighting among ourselves.

Every citizen of India should make efforts for enhancing the country's unity and integrity, he said, speaking at the valediction ceremony of the `Sangh Shiksha Varg' (officers' training camp for RSS cadres) here.

India did well among all countries during the global economic crisis and later the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that India has got the G20 presidency this year and ''this pride can be felt.'' There are several schisms related to religion and creed in our society, Bhagwat said.

"We are not showing our strength to the enemies sitting on the border, but we are fighting among ourselves. We are forgetting that we are one country," the Sangh chief said. "Everyone should make efforts for (enhancing) India's unity and integrity. And if there are any shortcomings, we must all work on them," he added. Some religions were from outside India, and ''we had wars with them,'' Bhagwat said.

''But the outsiders have gone. Now everyone is insider. Still, there are people here under the influence (of outsiders) and they are our people...this has to be understood. If there is any shortcoming in their thinking, then reforming (them) is our responsibility. "Outsiders have gone, but practice of Islam's is secure here for centuries," he noted.

Some people support the notion that there was no caste discrimination in India in the past, Bhagwat said, adding that one has to accept that ''injustice (on account of the caste system) has taken place in our country.'' ''We carry the glory of our ancestors, but we also have to repay the debts (of their mistakes)," the Sangh chief said.