RSS organises Iftar, leaves out Pak

Even as prime minister Narendra Modi missed president Pranab Mukherjee's Iftar party for the third consecutive time, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) mentor Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) hosted a party on Saturday to mark the festivities. The event was organised by the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, a Muslim organisation affiliated to the RSS.

According to the RSS functionaries, the cultural affairs programme had invitees from over 61 Muslim countries, including their culture secretaries, ministers and diplomats. The RSS, however, deliberately left out Pakistan in the wake of the recent Pampore attacks in Kashmir, a top functionary said.

"We wanted this to be a cultural event and not a political one," a top RSS functionary told dna, adding that the aim was to inform the world of the Indian culture and the Indian way of bringing all countries together.

Most of the prominent invitees, including diplomats of many countries, however, did not attend the party, resulting in a poor show. Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti also skipped the event.

Those who attended included BJP's Muslim face Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.