RSS chief meets head of All India Imam Organisation

New Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior Sangh functionaries on Thursday met Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief of All India Imam Organisation, at a mosque here, taking forward his outreach to the Muslim community.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted for more than an hour, was held at Kasturba Gandhi Marg mosque where the office of the All India Imam Organisation is located.

Bhagwat was accompanied by senior Sangh functionaries -- joint general secretary Krishna Gopal, Ram Lal and Indresh Kumar. While Lal was earlier organisational secretary of the BJP, Kumar is patron of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch.

Sharing details of the meeting, Suhaib Ilyasi, brother of Ahmed Ilyasi, said, "It was great that Bhagwatji came on our invitation on the death anniversary of our father. It also sends out a good message to the country."

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief has been holding discussions with Muslim intellectuals to strengthen communal harmony.

He had recently met Delhi's former Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi, former chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed Shervani.

During the meeting, Bhagwat had raised the issue of the usage of the word "kafir" for Hindus which, he said, does not send out a good message. The Muslim intellectuals, on the other hand, objected to some right-wing activists calling the Muslims "jihadi" and "Pakistanis".

The Muslim intellectuals also told Bhagwat that the real intent behind the usage of 'kafir' was something different, but in some quarters now, it is being used as an "abuse".

The RSS chief acknowledged the apprehensions of the intellectuals and underlined that the 'DNA of all Hindus and Muslims are the same'.

Responding to Bhagwat's meeting with Muslim leaders, RSS Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said, "Sarsanghachalak meets people from all walks of life. It is a part of the continuous general 'Samvad' process."

The All India Imam Organisation is the representative voice of the community of Indian Imams and claims to be the largest imam organisation in the world. It was formed to undertake at all levels the socio-economic issues which directly influence the earnings of Imams, their status in society and the expectations that the community and state have from them.