JAMMU: Asserting that there is a change in system after the abrogation of Article 370, which scrapped the special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said people also needed to change their mindset.
Addressing a seminar at General Zorawar Singh auditorium of Jammu University, Bhagwat expressed his apprehension that although the special status has been scrapped, if it has gone from the people’s mind or not.
“Mere changes in the system are not enough, we need to change our mindset,” Bhagwat said during his first visit to J&K after the abrogation of Article 370.
He added that the joy of seeing the sacrifice of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee bearing fruit in the form of abrogation of Article 370 is fairly visible in the country.
“Since the days of Jan Sangh (which demanded one nation one constitution), it has been our dream to see the abrogation of Article 370,” Bhagwat said.
It is to be noted that Mookerjee, the leader of Jan Sangh, the precursor to the BJP, died in custody in Jammu and Kashmir while leading an agitation against the provision.
Bhagwat further stated that India is a very diverse nation, and nobody has ever snatched the “indigenous culture of places having a cosmopolitan culture”.
“India must set an example for the world in maintaining unity and communal harmony… we have different states, languages, communities… still we all are one.”
He said, “Our understanding of evolution and development is fundamentally different from that of the rest of the world as it is rooted in altruism and ecological balance.”
The RSS chief also said India is world guru and not a world superpower. “And this is a defining difference between us and the rest of the countries.”
“Our unity can pave way for safeguarding our country, he said.
Bhagwat arrived in Jammu on Thursday on a four-day visit as per RSS’s annual tradition of visiting the erstwhile state. He will address a group of intellectuals and hold meetings with prominent people of the UT.
Following Bhagwat’s speech, RSS leader Indresh Kumar said, “I pray to God that wisdom dawns upon the Gupkar alliance leaders as Article 370 is not going to come back. Jammu and Kashmir is now on the path of development.”
Hinting at the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, Kumar said that times have changed in Jammu and Kashmir in the last seven years.
Kumar added that era of separatism and stone pelting is over and all those who were displaced from the valley will be rehabilitated soon.
There are no takers for separatism in the valley now, he said, and added that Jammu and Ladakh no longer face discrimination
