'Living in harmony is our culture': Mohan Bhagwat as RSS marks 100 years

NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said that people across undivided India have shared the same DNA for more than 40,000 years, further adding that "living in harmony is our culture."Speaking at the event "100 Years Journey of RSS: New Horizons" at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, Bhagwat said that, "DNA of people living in India for the past 40,000 years is one. Living in harmony is our culture.""We do not believe uniformity is necessary for unity, there is unity in diversity too. Diversity is a product of unity," he added.The RSS chief underlined that devotion to Bharat Mata and the traditions of ancestors form a common bond among Indians."The RSS is completing 100 years of its journey... The essence of RSS lies in the last line of our prayer, which we recite every day, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. It is our country and we need to praise it and work towards making it number one in the world," he noted.Bhagwat also expressed disappointment over India’s progress since Independence, saying the country has yet to achieve the stature it deserves in the past 75 years. He stressed that the RSS’ vision is to make India a "vishwaguru" (world teacher), adding that "the time for India’s contribution to the world has arrived."Calling for social transformation as the key to the nation’s rise, he said, "If we have to make the country rise, then it will not happen by leaving the job to someone. Everybody will have a role to play," adding that politicians, governments and political parties can only assist in the process.The RSS chief further said that India’s tradition has never been of division but of harmony.He said that since ancient times, Indians have believed that all people and the world are bound together by the same divinity. The word "Hindu," he noted, was a term given by outsiders to describe Indians.Hindus believe in walking their own path while respecting others, emphasising coordination over conflict, he added.