Kathmandu, April 1:

The fact that the Rastriya Sewak Sangh (RSS) — an ideological wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — is perhaps soft on the institution of monarchy as a matter of ideology becomes evident from the way a visiting pracharak evaded a response when asked to comment on the institution.

“Why should I comment on something I don’t know anything about. We back Hinduism the way it is,” said Adhish Kumar, a national RSS trainer, when asked to react on the views expressed earlier by Dr Sundar Mani Dixit, a civic rights campaigner, at a talks programme on “Hinduism: A Scientific Concept” organised by Biswo Sambad Kendra Nepal.

While he cited the language barrier for not articulating RSS views on monarchy while speaking as a chief guest at a function organised to mark the birth anniversary of RSS founder, Adhish Kumar still declined to answer even a pointed question on what RSS thinks about monarchy in general.

Earlier, Dr Dixit had, among others, said that no Hindu should be expected to be rooting for monarchy. Insisting that a king must adapt to the changing times, Dr Dixit lamented the way people following certain ideologies try to strike a link between religion and monarchy.