Senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao on Monday filed a complaint against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat alleging that the Sangh leader insulted the sentiments of the people by saying that all 130 crore Indians are "Hindus."
Mohan Bhagwat had at a public meeting in Hyderabad on December 25, said irrespective of religion and culture, people who have nationalistic spirit and respect the culture of Bharat and its heritage are Hindus and RSS considers the 130 crore people of the country as Hindus.
"The statement of Bhagwat not only hurts the sentiments and beliefs of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis etc, but is also against the spirit and tenor of the constitution of India," the former Rajya Sabha member alleged in his complaint.
"This will also lead to communal tension among the public and it could also become a law and order problem in Hyderabad," he contended.
When contacted, Ashok Reddy, inspector of LB Nagar police station, told PTI they had received a complaint from the Congress leader and were seeking legal opinion if a case should be registered.
At the meeting, Bhagwat had claimed, "The son of mother India, whether he may speak any language, from any region, follow any form of worship or not believing in worship of any, is a Hindu."
He went on to add, "There is a famous saying that there is unity in diversity. But our country goes one step ahead. Not just unity in diversity, (it is) diversity of unity. We are not searching for unity in diversity. We are searching for the unity from which the diversity came and there are different ways to achieve unity."
The RSS meeting was held even as protests continued across the country against the Centre's proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). However, Bhagwat made no direct reference to the CAA or the NRC in his speech.