Conversion was objective of Mother Teresa's service: Bhagwat

The remark drew strong criticism from all corners. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says, 'Please Spare Mother Teresa'

GN Bureau | February 24, 2015


#mother teresa   #mohan bhagwat   #mohan bhagwat rss   #arvind kejriwal  

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has alleged that conversion to Christianity was the basic objective of Mother Teresa’s service to the poor.

Bhagwat was inaugurating an orphanage and women’s home at Bharatpur, Rajasthan on Monday. His comment came only a few days after prime minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for religious freedom and said that his government will ensure complete freedom of faith and that everyone has complete freedom to follow any religion of their own choice.

Bhagwat said, “Here we will not provide service like that rendered by Mother Teresa. It is possible that her kind of work was good but there was a motive behind that service. It was to convert those she served to Christianity. Someone wants to convert others to Christianity, that is another thing, but to do it under the garb of social service is to devalue that service. Here, nothing like that will happen. In our country, social service is done like this, selflessly, completely selflessly.”

However, the RSS has denied the comment in its series of tweets.

Bhagwat’s comment drew strong reactions from all corners.

Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal in his early morning tweet on Tuesday said, “I worked wid Mother Teresa for a few months at Nirmal Hriday ashram in Kolkata. She was a noble soul. Pl spare her.”

 


Reacting to the RSS chief's comment, an NDTV report quoted Sunita Kumar, spokesperson, Missionaries of Charity (founded by Mother Teresa),  "We will do what Mother Teresa taught us: pray for him."

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