RSS downplays Panchjanya article

New Delhi, Oct. 18 : The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday negated allegations of publishing an article backing the Dadri lynching incident in its mouthpiece Panchjanya, saying the government must focus on ways to reduce communal clashes in the country.

Hitesh Shankar, the editor of Panchjanya, said that they do not support any violent incident.

“The writers have different perspectives and thoughts about a subject… we just publish them. But I don’t remember any such article that supports violence being published in Panchjanya,” said Shankar.

“The country has seen the revolt of 1857. In Punjab as well, there has been resentment against the desecration of a holy book. There is anguish in the society,” he added.

Shankar further said the society has certain value points that prevent clashes.

“Not following those points create clashes. How can we remove these clashes should be the government’s concern,” he said.

The RSS mouthpiece in its latest edition has criticised the writers, who have returned their awards in the wake of the incident in Dadri where a man was lynched over rumours of storing beef at his residence.

It alleges that madrasas and the Muslim leadership teach Indian Muslims to hate the country’s traditions. “Akhlaq (the Dadri victim) perhaps slaughtered a cow under the influence of such bad deeds,” it states.

Questioning the silence of writers, it asks them why they have been quiet on this issue. “Vedas order killing of the sinner who kills a cow. It is a matter of life and death for many of us),” states the article(ANI)