Ratan Tata gets invited for an RSS-affiliated charity

Avinash Khare secretary of the nonprofit Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti in Parel smiled wryly as he said in greeting In 50 years of our work we have not received as much attention as now and this is because of the controversy generated by media reports that Mr Ratan Tata is invited to our functionKhares statement comes in the light of a debate that has ignited over the announcement that industrialist Ratan Tata will be sharing the stage with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at a Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti event to be held Yashwant Natya Mandir in Matunga on August 24 The Samiti is affiliated to the RSS the Hindu nationalist organisation widely regarded as the parent body of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJPThe late Nana Palkar after whom the Samiti is named was an RSS fulltimer ideologue writer and poet The event will mark the Samitis 50year golden jubileeacircu00c2u0080u00c2u0088celebrationsRatan Tata with Aditya Thackeray at a Mumbai functionFree stayThe Samitis 10storied headquarters are at Parel close to Tata Memorial hospital The nonprofit works for underprivileged cancer patients The centre was a beehive of activity when we visited The buildings top floors have 38 rooms for poor outstation cancer patients undergoing treatment at Tata Two cancer patients to a room along with two relatives each can stay for one month free of cost said Khare even as we saw patients walk in the spick n span corridors of the building A dialysis centre with 14 machines each one given by a donor and a pathology lab at the centre saw a lot of activity as the rates are very low said Khare who added that they have appealed to the government for much needed spaceThe book on Israel by the late Nana PalkarKhare said talking about the August 24 event We will also release an English and Hindi translation of Palkars Marathi book about Israel called Chada karoon bala kadhe From torture to strength Khare refused to be drawn into the debate Ratan Tataji has accepted the invite and confirmed that he will attend We have old strong ties to Tata Hospital he saidA Tata Trust spokesperson refused to comment simply stating that it is a personal visitCancer patient Ashish S staying in the Samiti roomPranabs visitEvery media report about Tatas invite so far has the inevitable parallel about former president Pranab Mukherjees visit to an RSS function in Nagpur on June 7 which had invited censure from some Congress functionaries The exPrezs daughter too had tweeted against her fathers visit saying it would be exploited by the BJPs dirty tricks departmentShaina NC BJP spokesperson had taken Ratan Tata on a visit to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur on Tatas 79th birthday in 2016 She said firmly The RSS is a nationalistic organisation concerned with nation buildingFormer president Pranab Mukherjee speaks as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat adjusts the mike at an RSS event in Nagpur on June 7 2018 PicPTIMumbais Ashish Chauhan general secretary Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ABVP an organisation with the same ideology as the RSS said Even Azim Premji has shared the dais with Bhagwat Premji had spoken at a function in New Delhi in 2015 after being invited by Bhagwat Even the IT czar had to clear apprehension then by saying that speaking at a forum does not mean that one endorses all or any of the views of the organisationThe Bombay Parsi Panchayat BPP chairman Yazdi Desai said in response to community sentiment We feel no concern about this event Desai explained in the Parsi community in the issue of protesting against the Metro 3 line going under the Atash Bherams and desecrating the spiritual strength of our Holy Fires the Orthodox came together with the diametrically opposite reformist lobby under one umbrella Desai concluded adding So Mr Ratan Tata associating with the RSS for benefit of society at large should be encouragedCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates