The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has urged Washington to consider targeted sanctions against members of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and officials it says are linked to religious freedom violations, including revoking the U.S. visa of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Bhagwat is visiting the United States and is due to address an event in New York on Saturday, Aug. 29.
“We urge the U.S. government to consider targeted sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials complicit in religious freedom violations, including revoking the visa issued to Mohan Bhagwat,” USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood said in a statement on Wednesday.
The commission described the RSS as the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and alleged that members of organisations affiliated with the group have been involved in attacks against religious minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Dalits.
It also said policies pursued by the BJP-led government were closely aligned with the RSS’s Hindutva ideology and had contributed to discrimination against minority communities.
USCIRF, a bipartisan U.S. government body that monitors religious freedom abroad and issues policy recommendations, said its 2026 annual report had called for India to be designated a “Country of Particular Concern” over what it described as systematic and serious violations of religious freedom.
The commission has also raised concerns about anti-conversion laws, the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and restrictions affecting religious organisations.
Its recommendations are not binding, and the U.S. government has not imposed sanctions based on its recent recommendations concerning India.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has rejected USCIRF’s assessments, calling the commission biased against the country.
The RSS has rejected accusations that it promotes intolerance, describing itself as a Hindu-centric cultural and civilisational organisation. It has previously said overseas visits were intended to counter portrayals of the group as a paramilitary organisation involved in attacks on minorities.
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