RSS launches 'no Chinese Rakhi' campaign in UP
RSS' Muslim wing, Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), has launched a campaign against Chinese rakhi, in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow. The activists have burnt Chinese goods and are circulating WhatsApp messages saying, 'Wear an Indian Rakhi if you care about your country'. "By cooperating with us, buyers and traders can help deflate the Chinese ambitions," said an MRM activist.
 The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is likely to step up its campaign against Chinese goods in the run up to the Hindu campaign against the Hindu festival Rakshabandhan on August 7 by encouraging traders to not sell Chinese-made Rakhis.Volunteers of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), the RSS Muslim wing, burnt Chinese goods in Lucknow. Whatsapp messages? like ?Wear an Indian Rakhi if you care about your country? have started being circulated in the city.Raksha Bandhan is among the six major festivals that the Sangh celebrates and the campaign comes amid an increasingly bitter New Delhi-Beijing standoff over Doklam, which is under China?s control but claimed by Bhutan. This, Sangh leaders say, has prompted them to think of ways to weaken the Chinese financially.?This time we are going to encourage both traders and buyers not to sell Chinese Rakhi?we want to make the people aware of the sinister designs of the dragon and how by cooperating with us they can help deflate the Chinese ambitions,? said RSS pracharak Mahirajdhwaj Singh, who is associated with the MRM. The RSS has previously campaigned against Chinese crackers during Diwali and its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, called for a boycott of Chinese goods earlier this year.The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an RSS affiliate floated to promote Indian products, will follow up the initiative with a two-day meeting in Gonda from July 29. Part of the campaign includes door-to-door contacts, making people aware of how the Chinese are allying with Pakistan to create disturbances in India. Sangh volunteers at the Gonda meeting will discuss ways to create awareness among people to boycott Chinese products. Bhola Nath, who is associated with the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, told HT that a massive rally would be organised in Delhi?s Ramlila grounds in October. During the rally, the Modi government will be urged to opt out of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). ?China is cunningly using the WTO to flood the Indian market with cheap goods. There are larger concerns too. Several Chinese telecommunication companies, a few of which have earned huge profits, make the country?s mobile communications network vulnerable,? he said.Read more| Sikkim standoff: Don?t buy Made in China stationery, Mumbai schools tell studentsPrashant Bhatia, convener of Laghu Udyog Bharti, another RSS affiliate working to promote small and medium scale industries, has also joined the ?no Chinese product? campaign. The move has also found support from Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Sangh?s political wing. 