RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat meets head of All India Imam Organisation

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday visited a mosque in Delhi and met Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief cleric of the All India Imam Organisation, as part of the sangh’s minority outreach efforts.

He also visited a madrasa run by Ilyasi. ET had earlier reported that the RSS was working on its minority outreach and that efforts were being made for community bonding. After the meeting, Ilyasi said such meetings were important for community bonding. He called Bhagwat “rashtra pita” (father of the nation).

Ilyasi also supported a survey of madrasa initiated by the UP government. “The government will come to know the real situation of madrasas and it will pave the way for government funding to the institutions,” he said.


Ilyasi said he had earlier requested the RSS chief to make a visit to the mosque on KG Marg and the madrasa. During his madrasa visit, Bhagwat interacted with the students. RSS sources told ET that this was the fourth such meeting by Bhagwat since June this year. The first meeting took place in Ghaziabad on June 24, where leaders from 70 Muslim organisations had met Bhagwat. The second meeting was in Mumbai in July, while the third took place on August 22 in Delhi with five Muslim intellectuals.

RSS leaders Krishna Gopal, Indresh Kumar and Ramlal were also present during Thursday’s meeting. The minority meeting initiative is being handled by Gopal.