The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for sanctions against members of India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) found responsible for religious freedom violations, as the Hindu nationalist organisation's chief prepares to visit the US.
USCIRF Chair Dr Asif Mahmood noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member of the RSS, describing it as an Indian umbrella organisation whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims.
The agency’s commissioner Gene Mills urged Washington to withhold high-level engagements, stating that RSS leaders should not be honoured with diplomatic courtesies and that US authorities should instead focus on imposing sanctions on members responsible for religious freedom violations.
The commission's 2026 annual assessment documented a continued deterioration in religious freedom conditions across India, recommending that the State Department designate the country as a "Country of Particular Concern".
The report highlighted the proliferation of stringent anti-conversion laws in multiple states carrying penalties up to life imprisonment, the criminalisation of digital religious speech, and state measures targeting minority religious institutions and madrasas through legislation such as the 2025 Waqf Bill and the USAME Act.
Ideological roots
Founded in 1925, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh serves as the ideological parent organisation of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The right-wing paramilitary volunteer movement champions Hindutva, an ideology that seeks to define Indian national culture and identity strictly through Hindu nationalism.
International human rights bodies, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have extensively documented escalating state-sanctioned abuses against India's approximately 200 million Muslims.
Rights documentation highlights summary punitive actions such as extrajudicial bulldozer demolitions of Muslim residences and businesses without due process, discriminatory citizenship verification mechanisms, and the weaponisation of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against activists.
Bilateral relations between Washington and New Delhi during President Donald Trump's second term have experienced notable friction, driven by trade conflicts and shifting strategic positions.
Established under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a bipartisan federal government entity.
It monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad and provides policy recommendations to the US President, the Secretary of State, and Congress.
