New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops Conference Of India (CBCI) has strongly criticised Mohan Bhagwat’s recent statements, including the one in which he says that “Bharat is a Hindu Rashtra”, and condemned it as “misleading and deceptive”.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sarsanghchalak made the comments while speaking at the '100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons' lecture series. 

Responding to a question on whether Muslims are allowed in the Sangh, he had reportedly said, “No Brahmin is allowed in Sangh. No other caste is allowed in Sangh. No Muslim is allowed, no Christian is allowed in the Sangh. Only Hindus are allowed. So people with different denominations – Muslims, Christians, or any denomination – can come to the Sangh but keep your separateness out.”

He also said, “Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone follows 'Bharateeya' (Indian) culture – so nobody is 'Ahindu' (non-Hindu). Every Hindu must realise he is a Hindu, because being Hindu means being responsible for Bharat.”

In a press statement dated November 10, the CBCI highlighted some of these statements in news reports and categorically denied “the devious suggestion that Indian Christians are also Hindu”.

“Indian Christians are proud Indians and proudly ‘Bharateeya’ but not Hindu,” it said in a press release, further referring to a Supreme Court judgment that rejected the plea for using words like ‘Hindustan’, ‘Hind’ etc. for India.

The CBCI also refuted Bhagwat’s statement that India is a “Hindu Rashtra” and deprecated what it called "nefarious attempts to convert India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’”, urging Indians, but especially Christians, to take constitutional measures to protect the constitution.

The organisation also highlighted communal violence against Christians in India, noting RSS’s history as illustrated by the report of the Justice Venugopal Commission constituted by the government to enquire into the 1982 Kanyakumari communal violence, as well as a 2024 issue of RSS-affiliated ‘Panchjanya’ that contradicts Bhagwat’s comment on caste.

Read the full statement: 

New Delhi, November 10, 2025 -  The CBCI takes note of the news reports dated 09-11-2025 bringing out the statements of Mr. Mohan Bhagwat and is issuing this press release to caution all, and in particular the Christians. The news reports had the following misleading and deceptive statements:

- ‘Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone follows ‘Bharateeya’(Indian) culture- so nobody is ‘Ahindu’ (non-Hindu).’ Times of India.

- ‘.. Bharat is a Hindu Rashtra. It doesn’t contradict the Constitution…’ Times of India.

- ‘We have our views, and we want this country to go in a particular direction.’ NDTV.

- ‘...casteism no longer exists but caste confusion does, driven by electoral politics and concessions. There is no need to eradicate caste; there is need to forget caste.’ India Today.

At the outset, CBCI categorically denies the devious suggestion that Indian Christians are also Hindu. Indian Christians are proud Indians and proudly ‘Bharateeya’ but not Hindu. CBCI notes that even the Supreme Court of India by a Judgment dated 11-03-2016 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 203/2015 has rejected the plea for using the names / words like ‘Hindustan’, ‘Hind’ etc. for India.

CBCI refutes the statement that India is a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. We also deprecate all such nefarius attempts to convert India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra.’ India is and will always remain a ‘SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC’. CBCI calls up on every Indian, and in particular all Christians, to take all constitutional measures to protect the present Constitutional character of India at any cost.

In this context, it is important to note the history of RSS as illustrated by the report of the Justice Venugopal Commission constituted by the government to enquire into the 1982 Kanyakumari communal violence against Christians. It reads as follows:

‘The RSS (Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh) adopts a militant and aggressive attitude and sets itself up as the champion of what it considers to be the rights of Hindus against minorities. It has taken upon itself to teach the minorities their place and if they are not willing to learn their place, to teach them a lesson. The RSS methodology for provoking communal violence is: a) rousing communal feelings in the majority community by the propaganda that Christians are not loyal citizens of this country; b) deepening the fear in the majority community by a clever propaganda that the population of the minorities is increasing and that of the Hindus is decreasing; c) infiltrating into the administration and inducing the members of the civil and police services by adopting and developing communal attitudes; d) training young people of the majority community in the use of weapons like daggers, swords and spears; e) spreading rumours to widen the communal cleavage and deepen communal feelings by giving a communal colour to any trivial incident.’

CBCI also notices that August 2024 issue of RSS-affiliated ‘Panchjanya’ has written, ‘In the form of caste, the Indian society understood one simple thing – betraying one’s caste was betrayal of the nation’. Reading it with the rule in Manu Smriti (1.91) that ‘only one work did the Lord ordain for Shudras, viz to ungrudgingly serve the other three social orders’, and the above statement that ‘there is no need to eradicate caste’, [one gets] a clear pointer of Mr. Bhagwat’s intentions. We leave it for the people of India to have their own views on these matters. However, we express our concern about the lowering of economic [equity] in India to pre-independence levels today because of the blatant misuse of contract labour system by government and private sector; exploitative working hours; huge difference in calculation of minimum wages etc. while Mr. Bhagwat who wanted to take the country to a direction of his choice.

Christians in India have made significant contributions to our nation's freedom struggle and to its ongoing nation-building and will continue to do so.

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