Nagpur: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has invited a woman revamping their 97 year tradition. Anacclaimed mountaineer Santosh Yadav was the chief guest at its annual Dussehra function on Wednesday.
The Vijayadashami festival was inaugurated by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who also performed the ‘weapon worship’ (shastra puja) on the occasion.
In his speech, Bhagwat stresses on empowering women, adding that without them “a society cannot progress”. His comments came as the RSS – the BJP’s ideological parent – for the first time had a women chief guest for the annual event.
“Population require resources. If it grows without building resources, it becomes a burden. There is another view in which population is considered an asset. We need to work on a population policy for all keeping both aspects in mind,” he said shedding light on population policy.
Santosh Yadav is the first woman to climb Mount Everest twice – first in May 1992, and then again in May 1993 – with an Indo-Nepalese team. She is also the first woman to successfully climb Mount Everest from the Kangshung Face, the eastern-facing side that is considered much more difficult than the other sides. She was awarded the National Adventure Award in 1994 and Padma Shri in 2000.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis were also in attendance at what is called one of the main events of Sangh—an occasion when Sangh head Bhgawat speaks about Sangh’s views on important issues.