Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary and volunteer organization, has expressed his belief that the dream of Akhand Bharat, or undivided India, will become a reality before the current generation of young people grows old.
In an address to a gathering of students at Agrasen Students Hostel in Nagpur on Wednesday, Bhagwat also emphasized that circumstances were evolving in a way that could lead to this unification.
Bhagwat further voiced his support for reservations, asserting that they should persist as long as societal discrimination persisted. He underlined that the reservation system, as enshrined in the Constitution of India, was essential to addressing social backwardness and inequality.
"You will witness it [Akhand Bharat] before you grow old because circumstances are evolving in that direction. Those who are separated from India might now realize their mistake. We need to accept India’s nature. It is not just about erasing lines on a map but accepting India’s inherent character. So once that character is accepted, there will be no need for any change. Everything will naturally unite into one India."
The concept of Akhand Bharat harks back to the era before partition when present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country.
A new mural on display in India’s new parliament became an unlikely target of ire among its South Asian neighbours earlier this year, prompting Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal to seek an explanation from New Delhi.
The mural depicts a map of an ancient Indian civilization encompassing what is today Pakistan in the north and Bangladesh and Nepal in the east.
The map only showed the extent of Emperor Ashoka’s kingdom, an official at Bangladesh’s foreign ministry told reporters quoting New Delhi.
