Dozens of rights and advocacy groups are galvanising supporters to oppose an event scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday, headlined by Mohan Bhagwat, the boss of the Indian Hindu paramilitary organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Bhagwat arrived in New York on Tuesday on the first leg of a three-nation outreach tour to the US, Canada, and the UK at the invitation of overseas Hindu groups to mark the centenary of the RSS, whose affiliates Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal were described by CIA as "militant religious organisations".
Saturday's event is being organised by the non-profit American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue, which heaped praises on Bhagwat in a statement for frequently addressing "social harmony, family and community relationships, environmental responsibility, volunteerism, and dialogue among different sections of society."
The RSS — founded in 1925 with the declared goal of strengthening the Hindu community — remained outside mainstream politics for decades.
It was historically tainted by the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and has been known for inciting hostility against religious minorities amid recurring communal unrest across India.
While the group with five million members views Indian civilisation as intrinsically linked to Hinduism, critics argue its foundational ideology is rooted in Hindu supremacy.
Today, the RSS maintains an extensive network of affiliate groups spanning student and trade bodies, non-profit entities, and vigilante groups frequently linked to incidents of violence, especially against minority Muslims and Christians.
The organisation's political prominence is heavily reinforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which originated from the RSS.
'Bhagwat does not speak for all Hindus'
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, opposition groups — including Hindus for Human Rights, the Indian American Muslim Council, the Interfaith Center of New York, and various other Hindu, Muslim, interfaith, and civil rights organisations — staged a demonstration against Bhagwat's arrival in New York.
During a press briefing on the steps of New York City Hall, representatives called on Madison Square Garden to cancel the gathering and spoke out against the promotion of Hindu nationalism in the US.
"The RSS is a century-old Hindu nationalist organisation with a documented history of religious supremacy, anti-minority violence, and attacks on India's pluralistic foundations.
Bhagwat’s event, promoted as a celebration of 'Universal Oneness', attempts to spiritually sanitise that history and expand the RSS's influence in the United States," Hindus for Human Rights said in a statement.
Sravya Tadepalli, deputy executive director of the advocacy group, noted that Bhagwat does not speak for all Hindus and leads a movement that has fostered division and insecurity for minority communities.
"New York should not provide the RSS with a stage on which religious nationalism can be repackaged as unity. We will gather at City Hall to defend a genuinely pluralistic vision of an India where no faith is used to determine who belongs or who holds power."
Organisations that have denounced Bhagwat's visit include 18 Million Rising, the Arab Resource & Organizing Center, CodePink, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Dalit Solidarity Forum, the American Council for Judaism, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
In May, the RSS — which has been banned three times in India's post-independence history — stated that it organised international visits, including to the US, to counter allegations regarding its conduct and structure.
'Country of Particular Concern'
The outreach followed a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which stated that the RSS has engaged in severe intolerance and actions targeting minority communities over several decades.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government body that monitors religious freedom globally and submits policy recommendations to the US President, the Secretary of State, and Congress.
USCIRF also highlighted Prime Minister Modi's RSS background and recommended that the US State Department designate India as a "Country of Particular Concern".
International human rights monitors, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have documented increasing civil rights pressures faced by India's estimated 200 million Muslims, pointing to punitive demolitions of properties without due process and the use of security legislation against civil society figures.
Modi has already delivered on two key agenda items for the RSS: building a temple to the Hindu deity Ram on the site of a some 400-year-old mosque razed by Hindu zealots in 1992, and annexing the Muslim-majority India-administered Kashmir in 2019.
RSS is often described as the Indian version of the Ku Klux Klan — a notorious US white supremacist group, established in 1865, and known for using terrorist tactics — violence, intimidation, and murder — to enforce racial hierarchy and oppose civil rights in America.
Indian opposition leaders, notably Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, have consistently argued that majoritarian narratives undermine India's constitutional secularism.
While the RSS does not operate under its official name in the US, its activities and outreach are primarily conducted through the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA (HSS USA), which manages roughly 267 branches across 33 US states.
Earlier this year, public records and lobbying disclosures revealed that payments totalling $330,000 were made to the US lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs — which was also linked to Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed arch-rival — to represent interests linked to the organisation before the US Senate and House of Representatives
