RSS leader urges Muslims to adopt Hindu practices
Remarks by senior Hindu supremacist figure revives concerns over religious hierarchy and cultural assimilation in India
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A senior leader of India’s Hindu supremacist movement has described Hinduism as “supreme” and suggested that Muslims in the country should adopt Hindu-linked practices such as worshipping rivers, trees, and the Sun, remarks that have reignited concerns over religious hierarchy and pressure on minorities to culturally assimilate.
Dattatreya Hosabale, a top functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), made the comments while addressing a public event in Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
The gathering was attended by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs India at the federal level and is widely regarded as the political wing of the broader Hindutva movement.
Questioning objections to Hindu rituals, Hosabale said Muslims should have no issue performing practices such as surya namaskar — a sequence of physical postures traditionally linked to Hindu worship of the Sun — arguing that it would not prevent them from continuing Islamic prayers. “Our Hindu religion is supreme. It speaks for everyone,” he said, adding that Muslims would still be “allowed” to go to mosques.
Hosabale framed Hindu rituals as scientific, cultural, and environmental rather than religious, claiming they promote health and ecological awareness. He argued that practices such as worshipping rivers or trees should be embraced from an environmental perspective, presenting them as part of India’s collective tradition rather than expressions of a specific faith.
Rights advocates and analysts say such arguments reflect a longstanding Hindutva position that seeks to normalize Hindu customs as national culture, while portraying minority religious practices as secondary or conditional.
By presenting Hindu traditions as universal and non-religious, critics argue, the ideology blurs the line between cultural participation and religious conformity.
Hosabale also asserted that Hindu philosophy represents a single civilizational framework, describing Sanatan Dharma — a term often used interchangeably with Hinduism by nationalists — as a way of life encompassing all religions.
He briefly referenced the 1947 Partition of India, invoking historical trauma faced by Hindus without acknowledging violence suffered by other communities.
The remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of the RSS, a paramilitary-style organization founded in 1925 that promotes Hindutva — an ideology that defines Indian nationhood primarily through Hindu identity.
The group has long denied seeking the marginalization of minorities, but its leaders’ statements are frequently cited by rights groups as evidence of ideological pressure on Muslims and Christians.
Hosabale has previously sparked controversy by calling for a review of the words “secular” and “socialist” in India’s Constitution, which were formally added during the 1970s Emergency period.
Opposition leaders and constitutional scholars say such positions reflect an effort to weaken India’s secular framework in favor of a majoritarian vision of the state.
Analysts warn that framing Hinduism as “supreme” while encouraging minorities to adopt its practices reinforces unequal power dynamics and undermines constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, particularly at a time when minorities in India report rising discrimination and social hostility.
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