"Anti-national forces, anti-Sanatana forces oppose RSS for selfish motives": Baba Ramdev

New Delhi [India], November 2 (ANI): Amid the war of words between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Congress party over calls for a ban on the RSS, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Sunday said that "anti-national forces" and "anti-Sanatana forces" aiming to fulfil their hidden agenda and selfish motives were demanding to outlaw the organisation.
In an interview to ANI, Baba Ramdev drew parallels between the RSS and the Arya Samaj, highlighting the contributions of Dr Hedgewar, Sadashivrao Golwalkar, and others to the nation. He emphasised that at present, millions of Sangh workers are serving the country.
"The RSS, like the Arya Samaj, is a nationalist organisation, and within it, many great men, from Dr Hedgewar to Sadashivrao Golwalkar, have practised penance. Even today, millions of Sangh workers work for the country. When anti-national forces, anti-Sanatana forces, oppose the RSS or any Hindutva force, they have some hidden agenda and selfish motives behind it," Baba Ramdev said.
Baba Ramdev comes in the aftermath of a controversy that reignited after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge cited Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's 1948 decision to ban the RSS and argued the organisation is responsible for law and order problems.
Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge had also previously requested for a ban on the activities of RSS in government state schools, colleges, and state-owned temples. On October 28, the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court put an interim stay on the State government's order declaring gatherings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in government premises with more than 10 people illegal without permission.
Priyank Kharge had also informed that the state is considering new laws against the RSS and has decided to strengthen existing laws prohibiting government employees from participating in any political activities.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale during a press conference in Jabalpur following the organisation's second day of the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarni Mandal meeting countered Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks stating that any ban requires a valid reason and that those demanding it should learn from previous failed attempts.
"There must be a reason behind the ban. What will be gained by banning an RSS that is engaged in nation-building? The public has already accepted the RSS," Hosabale said.
The 100-year-old organisation RSS has worked in social services across the country. While the organisation stays away from politics, certain leaders of the RSS had formed the BJP in 1980.
The organisation has been banned three times in Independent India. The first time the organisation was banned was following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 by Nathuram Godse. Then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel issued a government notification ordering the ban, which was lifted a year later. An investigation into Gandhi's assassination did not find any involvement of the RSS in the event.The second time, it was banned during the Emergency, in 1975, by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The third time, it was banned was in 1992, following the demolition of Babri masjid. (ANI)