Asserting that the DNA of all Indians was the same, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat asked Muslims not to get "trapped in the cycle of fear" that Islam was in danger in India. Addressing an event Sunday at Ghaziabad, a satellite city of Delhi, organised by the Muslim Rashtriya Manch on the theme ''Hindustani First, Hindustan First'', he said that people of India can't be differentiated on how they worship.

He also took on those indulging in lynching, saying, "They are against Hindutva". Though at times, some false cases of lynching have been registered against people, Bhagwat said.

"Don't get trapped in the cycle of fear that Islam is in danger in India," Bhagwat said at the event. His remarks assume a lot of significance as the RSS is seen as the ideological fountainhead of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Underlining that development is not possible without unity in the country, Bhagwat said the basis of unity should be nationalism and the "glory of ancestors". The only solution to any Hindu-Muslim conflict was dialogue, not discord, he said.

"Hindu-Muslim unity is misleading as they're not different, but one. DNA of all Indians are same, irrespective of religion," Bhagwat was quoted by NDTV as saying

"We are in a democracy. There can't be a dominance of Hindus or Muslims. There can only be the dominance of Indians."

He said Hindus and Muslims may differ on issues but that does not make them part of different societies, Indian Express quoted him as saying. There are an estimated 200 million Muslims in India, making them the third largest Muslims society in the world, comprising over 14 per cent of the population. 

Bhagwat said politics cannot unite people, it can only divide, and urged Muslims not to get “trapped in the cycle of fear that Islam is in danger in India”.

He said India’s Constitution was proof that minorities were in no danger in India. “Even if a section from the majority community shows aggression against the minority, its opposition comes from within the majority community. If I give an aggressive and angry speech, the Hindu will not support me,” Bhagwat declared.

Bhagwat reminded the audience of India’s rich heritage of accommodation and tolerance, saying that the country had so many resources that the people never felt the need to go anywhere else and accepted whoever came here from outside.

While beginning his speech, Bhagwat said he was attending the event neither for any image makeover nor for "vote-bank politics".

Bhagwat said neither the Sangh was in politics nor does it bother about maintaining an image. "It keeps on doing its work to strengthen the nation and for the welfare of all in the society," he said.(SAM)