RSS coordination meet: Violence in Kerala, West Bengal; situation in Kashmir discussed

The attacks on RSS workers in Kerala and West Bengal came up for discussion on Friday at a crucial Sangh Parivar meeting during which steps taken by the Centre to curb stone-pelting in Kashmir were lauded, RSS sources said.

Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries made presentations on the violence allegedly targeting Sangh workers in the two states, the sources said, adding that the situation in Kerala was deemed “particularly dangerous” and participants dubbed it a case of “state-sponsored” violence.

The inaugural session of the three-day coordination exercise was addressed by RSS general secretary Suresh (Bhaiyyaji) Joshi and senior functionary Suresh Soni and the participants included BJP chief Amit Shah.

This is the first RSS conclave in Uttar Pradesh after the BJP came to power in the state earlier this year.

The security situation in J-K was discussed on the first day of the meeting attended by top leaders of the saffron family, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and Shah, according to the Sangh’s Sahkar Bharti Mahamantri, Uday Joshi.

Forty allied organisations of the Sangh are also taking part in the event being chaired by Bhagwat.

At the end of today’s session, Shah had a meeting with Bhagwat where frontline RSS functionaries including Dattatreya Hosabale, the Sangh’s joint general secretary, Soni, Krishna Gopal and Ram Lal were present.

What transpired at the meeting was not yet known, but unconfirmed reports said the rejig of the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday came up for discussion.

A senior functionary of the RSS, Arun Kumar, spoke on the situation in Kashmir, Joshi said.

“Kumar spoke about the internal security situation in Kashmir and stressed on bringing stone-pelters to the mainstream.

“He also said that cases relating to stone-pelting and terror have come down in recent time, for which the central government must be appreciated,” Joshi said.

Kumar is the former prant pracharak of the Jammu and Kashmir chapter of the RSS.

The meeting, being held at Keshav Dham here, will take stock of the work done by the Sangh’s various organisations, an RSS leader, who did not want to be named, said.

Senior Sangh functionaries Dattatreya Hosabale and Krishna Gopal, and VHP’s Pravin Togadia were present at the meeting.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to join the conclave tomorrow, the RSS leader said.

Shah, along with BJP organisation secretary Ram Lal, reached earlier on Friday after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital.

Issues such as the recent violence in Haryana after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in rape cases will also be discussed, he said.

Some state BJP leaders are also likely to attend the meeting.

RSS prachar pramukh Manmohan Vaidya had called the meet a routine affair and said it was a platform for all sections of the Sangh to share details of the work done by them in their respective fields.