Chief Imam of All India Imam Organisation Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, on Thursday, called RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat the ‘Father of the Nation’ after he visited a Masjid and Madarsa in the national capital.

“Mohan Bhagwat Ji visited on my invitation today. He is ‘Rashtrapita’ and ‘Rashtra Rishi.’ A good message will go out from his visit. Our ways of worshipping God are different but the biggest religion is humanity. We believe country comes first,” tweeted Dr Ilyasi.

Earlier, after visiting a Masjid at Kasturba Gandhi Marg, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat went to the Azad Market Madarsa Tajweedul Quran in Old Delhi and interacted with the children and also had a piece of advice for them.

Madarsa director Mahmudul Hasan said: “The chief stayed inside the Madarsa for about an hour and met the teacher and the children.”

His visit to the Masjid earlier and to the Madarsa has grabbed eyeballs, as it is for the first time that he has been to a Madarsa.

The RSS chief, who is engaged in a campaign to increase contact with Muslims, also met with Dr Imam Umair Ahmed Ilyasi, head of All India Imam Sangathan, on August 1 last month.

Earlier, in the day he had also met with many Muslim intellectuals including the Chief Imam, Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi.

As per sources close to the RSS, issues like the Hijab controversy, Gyanvapi and maintenance of peace and harmony among religions were discussed in the meeting.

Other than Mohan Bhagwat, senior RSS members including Dr Krishna Gopal, Indresh Kumar, Ramlal and Karish Kumar also participated in today’s meeting.

Sunil Ambekar, the Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS said that the meeting was a part of the ‘Samvad’ process.

“RSS Sarsanghchalak meets people from all walks of life. It is the part of a continuous general ‘Samvad’ process,” Ambekar said.

The controversy over Hijab erupted from a Karnataka college and is currently being heard in the Supreme Court. It also came up in the findings of intelligence agencies that the PFI was behind triggering the controversy.

After the controversy erupted regarding Gyanvapi, the RSS chief met with Muslim intellectuals and academicians.

Earlier on Tuesday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat met with many Muslim intellectuals and discussed recent controversies and ways to strengthen religious inclusivity in the country.

As per the sources close to RSS, the meeting was held for propagating the ideas of Sangh and for promoting the theme of religious inclusivity. Recent incidents like the Gyanvapi controversy, the Hijab controversy, and population control were discussed in the meeting.

The meeting was attended by many intellectuals like former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Qureshi, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung, former Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed Shervani.

Earlier, during the time of Ram Mandir’s judgment as well, the RSS played an active role. The senior RSS members met with Muslim intellectuals and propagated the message that whatever order comes out, everybody will be accepting it peacefully.

The RSS has always specified that nationalism should be in everyone’s heart irrespective of one’s religious leaning.