The five eminent Muslims who have had two rounds of dialogue with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh do not seem to recognise this truism of life: humans must take into account the existing reality before hoping for a better future. The eminence of these gentlemen is undebatable—S Y Quraishi is a former chief election commissioner, Najeeb Jung is a former lieutenant governor, Zameer Uddin Shah retired from the Army as lieutenant general, Shahid Siddiqui is a journalist and former MP, and Saeed Shervani is a hotelier.

The five met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on August 22, and then, on January 14, three of the organisation’s senior leaders. During the ongoing dialogue, the group of five expressed their worries over the demonising of Muslims, and sought to address the RSS’s concerns over the community engaging in cow slaughter, labelling Hindus as kafirs, or non-believers, etc. Their hope is to dissuade the RSS from othering Muslims.