US Religious Freedom Panel Calls For Sanctions On RSS Members As Organization’s Chief Visits New York
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has urged Washington to place targeted sanctions on members of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its leader Mohan Bhagwat visits New York.
Dr. Asif Mahmood, a Pakistani-American physician and USCIRF Chairman, noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member of the RSS, describing it as an Indian umbrella organization whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, including Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs, according to media reports.
Dr. Mahmood called on the U.S. government to consider revoking the visa issued to Bhagwat and making him ineligible for future entry into the United States.
“Religious freedom conditions in India continue to deteriorate as violence and incitement are frequently used to target religious minority communities,” Dr. Mahmood said, urging the U.S. government to consider targeted sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials complicit in religious freedom violations.
The USCIRF statement comes as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has separately voiced opposition to Bhagwat’s planned appearance in the city. Mamdani said Tuesday that he did not support the rally Bhagwat is addressing, while acknowledging that he was unsure whether the city had jurisdiction to cancel a privately organized event.
Mamdani described the rise of the RSS movement as “incredibly troubling” and said he was opposed to what he characterized as its “exclusionary vision.”
The Indian American Muslim Council has also condemned Mohan Bhagwat’s policies, and is staging a protest against the RSS chief’s visit to the United States.
Bhagwat is scheduled to address the Indian diaspora on August 29 at Madison Square Garden at an event promoted as the “Universal Oneness Celebration,” organized by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue. The event has drawn opposition from organizations and activists who have raised concerns about the RSS’s record and Bhagwat’s leadership.
USCIRF’s concerns, however, extend beyond Bhagwat’s New York appearance. The commission has accused members of RSS subgroups of involvement in violent attacks against religious minorities and said Indian authorities have failed to adequately prevent, investigate, or punish such violence.
USCIRF also raised concerns over India’s anti-conversion laws, saying they have been used to target Christians and other religious minorities. It cited the expulsion of Muslim citizens in Assam under the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), as well as what it described as shrinking space for civil society.
The commission further warned that proposed amendments to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) could threaten the ability of faith-based organizations to operate freely.
