‘Cheap, loose talk for US and Gulf countries’: Asaduddin Owaisi calls Mohan Bhagwat conciliatory remarks 'hypocritical'

NEW DELHI: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has called RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent conciliatory remarks towards Muslims "cheap talk" and "hypocritical," saying "never can the twain meet." “You may be making these conciliatory statements but it is your own people who are doing this (anti-Muslim) tamasha. If you think they are wrong, why are you not stopping them?” Owaisi told news agency PTI in an interview on Saturday. Bhagwat had earlier said that Hindus and Muslims share the same DNA and warned against looking for a Shivling under every mosque — a comment seemingly aimed at easing growing religious tensions. Referring to ongoing disputes over Mughal-era mosques, Owaisi questioned whether the people filing legal cases were not followers of the RSS chief. “Are all these people who are going to courts and filing cases (seeking investigation of mosques' origins) not Mohan Bhagwat's acolytes?” he asked. Owaisi, further said Bhagwat's influence could be tested by action, not words. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Make them stop. That means they are not listening to you. Are you helpless to stop them? No, that's also not so. It is in your control. It is happening on your orders. It is happening with your acquiescence.” He also pointed to a contradictory statement from another senior RSS leader issued shortly after Bhagwat’s remarks. “This is the theory of confusion of RSS. Bhagwat's statements are hypocritical. This is just cheap talk, loose talk, meant to send a message to America or Gulf Muslim countries,” Owaisi said. Asked whether he would meet Bhagwat to discuss the issue, the Hyderabad MP dismissed the idea. “I am not anxious to meet him. (Mere pet me dard nahi hai),” he said. Owaisi accused the RSS of working to undermine India’s pluralism and described it as ideologically incompatible with secular values. “RSS wants to destroy this country's pluralism and diversity, and create a theocratic country. This has been said often by their leaders, whether it is Dr Hedgewar or Golwalkar, Deoras, Bhagwat or Rajju Bhaiya,” he said. “Them and us are the two shores of the sea. How can they come together? Never can the Twain meet. RSS is an ideological creature. RSS will never give up its ideology.” Bhagwat has met Muslim intellectuals and clerics in recent years as part of the RSS's outreach efforts.