NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said India proved former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrong by staying united after the end of the colonial rule in the country, even as England itself was now arriving at the stage of division.
Speaking at a gathering after releasing Madhya Pradesh minister Prahlad Singh Patel’s book ‘Parikrama Kripa Saar’ in Indore, Bhagwat said there was no global strife when India was the world leader for 3,000 years.
At that time, the environment was never deteriorated, technological progress was at a high level and human life was happy and cultured, he said.
“In that era, we led the world, but did not conquer any country (by aggression) and did not suppress any country’s trade. We did not convert anyone’s religion. Wherever we went, we spread our civilisation and improved the lives of people by imparting knowledge of our scriptures. Then all the countries had their own identity, but there was a good dialogue between them. This (dialogue) is not there today,” said Bhagwat.
He further stated that vested interests were responsible for conflicts in the world, which created all the problems.
Bhagwat said India was progressing on the path of development by proving everyone’s predictions wrong as it is driven by faith in the traditional philosophy of knowledge, action, and devotion.
“We are driven by faith in our philosophy of knowledge, action, and devotion,” he said at a time when the Indian economy recorded a growth rate of 7.80 per cent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the highest in the last five quarters before the imposition of tariffs by the US.
The growth came despite US president Donald Trump’s imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
Speaking of Churchill, who had predicted that India would be divided after the British left, Bhagwat said the country had proved him wrong by staying united.
“Winston Churchill once said that after independence (from British rule), you (India) will not be able to survive and will be divided, but this did not happen.
Now England itself is coming to the stage of division, but we will not be divided. We will move forward,” he added.