I don’t endorse RSS ideology: Azim Premji

Wipro chairman Azim Premji on Sunday made it clear that he sharing the dais with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat should not be seen as his “endorsement” of the right wing organisation’s views and said his participation amounted to accepting the differences and working together.

“Some people had advised me that attending the event could appear as endorsing the ideology of the Sangh. I did not follow the advice because I am not a political person and I know that speaking here does not mean that I endorse all views of the organisation,” Premji said at a Rashtriya Sewa Bharati function.

Premji also offered thought on difference of opinion saying we should learn to work with people with whom we have differences and focus on reaching the common ground. “There should not be dissonance and distortion,” he said, while stating that all should work for building “equitable, just, sustainable and corruption free” India.

Premji came out with this clarification before he started speaking on the need to increase public expenditure on school and higher education, which has gone down in the budget for financial year 2014-15.

“The test of our social commitment and humanity is how we treat the most powerless of our fellow citizens, the respect we accord to our fellow human beings. That is what reveals our true culture,” Premji added.

In the session also attended by GM Rao, chairman of infrastructure company GMR, and Zee Network chairman Subhash Chandra, the IT giant said private education providers cannot be alternative to public funded high quality education and suggested six steps to improve quality of education. 

Mohan Bhagwat agreed with Premji that differences should be reconciled and recalled that the RSS was born 90 years ago as an organisation to provide service irrespective of one’s religion.

I don’t endorse RSS ideology: Azim Premji