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On August 29, the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City hosted a different kind of message — one that sought to travel beyond politics, geography and religion.
At the One World, One Humanity gathering, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat placed Universal Oneness at the centre of his address. His message was simple, but its implications were profound: humanity may be divided by faith, language, culture and geography, but beneath these differences lies a deeper unity.
The RSS Sarsanghchalak put this argument particularly directly while speaking about Muslims and the idea of Hindu Rashtra.
"If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu," Bhagwat said.
The RSS chief followed it with an explanation of what he sees as the philosophical foundation of that position.
"If you want to call yourself Hindu, you must believe that all paths are leading to the same goal and that every human has dignity. There is no difference between human beings."
These words offer a direct insight into how Bhagwat understands Hindu identity not as a rejection of diversity, but within a civilisational framework that recognises the dignity of every human being.
He placed this understanding within what he described as a traditional Bharatiya philosophical outlook:
"I am not a religious scholar, nor a religious authority, but I am working in a society which traditionally says that religions might be different, but humanity is one," he said.
He then explained the idea further. "Truth is one, and humanity is a product of that truth. So humanity is one. That truth is one truth, but it is described in many ways according to the describer."
The distinction is central to Bhagwat's argument. He was not suggesting that all religions are identical. Rather, he was arguing that different religious paths and practices can exist alongside a recognition of the fundamental unity of humanity.
He expressed that idea even more vividly when he said, "Diversity is a decoration for our unity. It has to be accepted. It has to be respected. It has to be protected. As I protect my own specific nature, I have to protect others also."
In this formulation, diversity is not an obstacle to unity, rather it is part of it. One can preserve one's own identity while respecting and protecting the identity of another.
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Beyond politics of identity
Bhagwat's remarks on Muslims were rooted in an interaction he recalled from a 2018 dialogue in Delhi, where Muslim participants had asked him directly about their place in his vision of Hindu Rashtra.
"You are a Hindu organisation. You talk about Hindu Rashtra. What about us Muslims? Would you drive us out?” he recalled them asking.
His response, according to his account, was unequivocal. "No. That is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he is not a Hindu.”
It was one of the clearest formulations of his understanding of Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra.
Bhagwat and the RSS have often articulated Hindu Rashtra as a civilisational and cultural conception of Bharat rather than a theological state, a framing that remains part of a wider debate over the meaning and implications of Hindutva.
At Madison Square Garden, Bhagwat was explaining that understanding to a global audience.
His larger point was that Hindu identity, Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra cannot be used as a justification for denying another human being dignity or a place in Bharat.
That proposition becomes especially significant at a time when questions of identity are increasingly shaping public life across the world.
When philosophy becomes service
Bhagwat did not leave Universal Oneness at the level of philosophy. He illustrated it through the experience of RSS swayamsevaks during the 1996 Charkhi Dadri air crash in Haryana.
On November 12, 1996, a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines Il-76 collided over Charkhi Dadri, killing all 349 people aboard.
Bhagwat recalled how RSS volunteers reached the site and helped with the aftermath.
"Most of the passengers were Muslims," he said.
The volunteers, he recalled, helped treat the injured, recover bodies, arrange funeral rites and assist relatives in identifying the dead.
Then came the sentence that captured the human instinct he was describing. "We never thought at that time that these were Muslims."
The example gave his philosophical argument a human dimension. In a moment of tragedy, the religious identity of the victims did not determine the response. The need was human, and the response was one of service.
For Bhagwat, this is where sewa becomes an expression of oneness, not as an abstract principle, but as something experienced through action.
The Vivekananda connection
Bhagwat's address also drew upon Swami Vivekananda's idea of a nation's mission.
Quoting Vivekananda, he said, "Every nation has a message to deliver. Every nation has a mission to accomplish. Every nation has a destiny to fulfil."
Bhagwat then connected that idea of national purpose to what he described as Bharat's civilisational responsibility.
“What is the destiny given to Bharat? Bharat is there to realise, and from time to time make the world realise this unity in diversity."
This provided the larger civilisational frame for his message. For Bhagwat, Bharat's contribution to the world is not simply its own cultural heritage, but the possibility of demonstrating how diversity can coexist with an underlying sense of oneness.
Different faiths, languages, cultures and traditions need not disappear into a single identity. They can retain their distinctiveness while being held together by a deeper recognition of shared humanity.
That was the connection Bhagwat sought to draw between Vivekananda's idea of national purpose and the message he carried to New York.
Not sameness, but oneness
At the heart of Bhagwat's message was "Oneness does not mean sameness."
Bhagwat explained it through the relationship between religion, truth and humanity:
"I am working in a society which traditionally says that religions might be different, but humanity is one. Truth is one, and humanity is a product of that truth. So humanity is one. That truth is one truth, but it is described in many ways according to the describer," he said.
The idea, as Bhagwat presented it, is straightforward. Different religions may have different practices, rituals and ways of understanding the divine, but those differences need not prevent people from recognising their common humanity.
Bhagwat further said, "All paths are leading to the same goal. Every human has a dignity. There is no difference between human beings."
His argument, therefore, is not for uniformity. It is for coexistence rooted in mutual respect.
He connected that philosophy directly to social action, when he said, "Dialogue is the first step. Service is another. Not one step after that. It had to start simultaneously."
He elaborated, "We are serving, and by serving we don't see this discrimination. Whoever is needy, we are serving."
Perhaps that is the essence of Universal Oneness: to remain rooted in who we are while recognising the humanity we share with others. In Bhagwat's formulation, difference need not become division, rather can become part of a larger unity.
A message to a divided world
The modern world has become extraordinarily connected, yet human beings have rarely appeared so divided. It was against this backdrop that Bhagwat used the stage of Madison Square Garden to present what he described as a distinctly Bharatiya idea that diversity and oneness can coexist.
"We are here to celebrate Oneness," the RSS Sarsanghchalak said.
He explained the idea, "Diversity is a decoration for our unity. It has to be accepted. It has to be respected. It has to be protected."
The message is not about erasing differences, but about preserving one's own identity while respecting the identity of others.
For Bhagwat, this is where the idea of Universal Oneness acquires its larger meaning. Bharat's civilisational message, as he presented it, is that different faiths, cultures and traditions can coexist without losing their distinctiveness, because humanity remains one.
Whether one agrees with Bhagwat's broader cultural and ideological framework or not, his central proposition is that diversity need not be incompatible with a shared sense of humanity.
About the author: Saswat Panigrahi is a multimedia journalist, columnist, broadcaster, and political commentator. He works across media platforms covering politics and current affairs. His work focuses on political analysis and public discourse.
