At 94, MG Vaidya is older than the RSS itself, founded as it was in 1925. Over the decades, the former official spokesperson — his sonhas since stepped into that role — has seen the anointment of six sarsanghchalaks, the arrest of three of them (Hedgewar, Golwalkar and Deoras) and four bans.In this exclusive interview withat his home at Pratap Nagar Ring Road in Nagpur, the Sangh’s grand old man weighs in on the Modi government, how the Kashmir issue should be resolved and the RSS’s long shadow on the Centre. Excerpts:I am satisfied. India’s stature has increased through his foreign relations, and his note ban move has unearthed a lot of black money. Similarly, his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is laudable. People are liking his government. This has been proved by the Uttar Pradesh election results.It’s a delusion. Nagpur is the headquarters of the RSS. So people say orders are given from here. I have been part of the Sangh as well as politics in the Jan Sangh. They can come here for paramarsh (advice). But even outside Nagpur, when there are meetings, they visit those places. The Sangh is the sangh of a complete society. A society has many facets: education, dharma, industry, agriculture. The Sangh has workers in all these fronts but politics is just one of them. When Pravin Togadia (of the VHP) visits Nagpur, no one reports it, but when Amit Shah or a minister visits the headquarters, that makes headlines. There are 35 branches of the Sangh — the BJP is one of them. But since the BJP is in active politics, questions are raised about it.The Sangh’s ideology is that rashtra is supreme and rashtra ka naam Hindu rashtra hai. To quote Ernest Renan: A nation is a spiritual principle… and not a group determined by the configuration of earth... a nation is a soul... the nation, like the individual, is the fruit of a long past spent in toil, sacrifice and devotion.They can become part of rashtra. A nation involves people. People are the nation. State is a political association.A nation can have many states. To become a nation of people, there are three prerequisites: sentiment about the land in which they live, second is their attitude towards history, third and most important is their cultural values — what is wrong and what is right. I have been a teacher for 17 years in a Christian college in Nagpur. Once a senior Christian teacher asked me if he too could become an RSS member: ‘What shall I have to do?’ I told him you can and for that you don’t have to leave your Bible, your Christ or your church. But, I said, you will have to accept the validity of other faiths and religions. He said no to this, adding if he accepts this, he will not be able to propagate his religion. What is Hindu? It is the commonwealth of many religions. Bharat Mata ki jai kahiye — aur Hindu ho gaya. One must accept plurality of faith. Even in the Sangh we have Muslims via the Muslim Rashtriya Manch. In Meghalaya RSS, we have 95 per cent Christians.Those who were earlier Hindus and want to come back — including the Christian teacher who spoke to me — are welcome. But we do not convert by giving enticements. In Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, conversions have been happening — it is a crime.In J&K, there are three parts: Ladakh, PoK and the Valley. The Valley that has problems has two kinds of people — those who want to stay with Bharat and those who want azadi. No one can say how the government will solve this problem. There is a growing demand for azadi. It is a long-time demand of Farooq Abdullah that Kashmir must get autonomy. This can’t be given. In my opinion there must be a roundtable conference — to gauge what they want. But are they ready for talks? Right now, they have turned violent. First, the mood of stone pelters and those who are encouraging them must be understood — but the condition is that it will not be given to Pakistan.Pakistan has become a party. The Valley can’t become part of Pakistan. Talks with Pakistan can only be about PoK because maharaja Hari Singh acceded the whole of J&K state to India. After this, Pakistan sent their army in the form of Kabalis. Perhaps Lord Mountbatten advised them. Even today PoK is not part of Pakistan. My advice is, except for those who want to go to Pakistan, a discussion must be held with those who want autonomy.It is my personal opinion that there must be reservations for SC and ST for a few years — say, 10 or 15 years — but later reservation must have an economic basis.The Sangh is not a political party. It is an organisation of the entire Hindu society. It includes Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. We try for Muslims and Christians to also become part of it. Explanation 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution says everything. Hindu is not a religion but dharma: there is no translation for dharma in English.The RSS was founded to effect Independence. The founder, Dr Hedgewar, was part of the Satyagraha movement. Who offered protection to those who were underground? Who protected (freedom fighter) Aruna Asaf Ali? It was RSS Delhi’s sanghchalak who helped her.