Mohan Bhagwat's comment on army 'misrepresented': RSS

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NEW DELHI:  The RSS on Monday said its chief Mohan Bhagwat's controversial comment in Bihar on the Indian Army's preparedness for a war was being "misrepresented" as he never compared the army with his organisation.

An RSS statement said that Bhagwat told a gathering in Muzaffarpur on Sunday that in case of a war the Indian Army would take six months to prepare the society whereas RSS volunteers can be trained in three days because "Swayamsevaks practise discipline regularly".

"This was no way a comparison between the Indian Army and the Sangh swayamsevaks but it was a comparison between general society and swayamsevaks.

Both are to be trained by the Indian Army only," RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said.

The RSS chief, who is in Bihar on a 10-day visit, was on Sunday quoted as saying that the RSS has the ability to prepare an army to fight for the country within three days, if such a situation arises and the Constitution permits.

"The Sangh will prepare within three days which the Army would do in 6-7 months.

This is our capability. Swayamsevaks will be ready to take on the front if the country faces such a situation and the Constitution permits," Bhagwat told RSS workers at Zila school ground in Muzaffarpur.

"The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is not a military organisation, but we have discipline like the military.

If the country requires and the country`s Constitution allows, the RSS is ready to fight on the borders against the enemy," he said.