More than 1,000 people in the United States have appealed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to deny or revoke a U.S. visa for Mohan Bhagwat, head of Hindutva organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to organisers of the campaign.
The letters, gathered by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and allied groups, also urge authorities to prevent Bhagwat from appearing at a planned event at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Aug. 29.
“Mohan Bhagwat does not represent Indian Americans,” IAMC President Mohammed Jawad said, arguing that the State Department should use its authority to block the visit before the scheduled appearance.
The campaign comes after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended in March that Washington consider targeted measures against the RSS, including asset freezes and visa restrictions on its leaders. The commission cited what it described as the organisation’s long-standing involvement in violence and intolerance against religious minorities.
The Congressional Research Service has described the RSS as a hardline Hindu nationalist organisation.
Human Rights Watch has also linked the RSS and affiliated groups to violence against religious minorities, including Christians, and has held the organisation directly responsible for the role it played in the 2002 violence against Muslims in Gujarat.
Other international organisations, including Genocide Watch and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Early Warning Project, have raised concerns about violence targeting minorities in India, as well as demolitions of Muslim-owned properties and alleged discrimination against religious communities.
The campaign in the United States follows similar efforts in Canada, where dozens of civil society, human rights and religious organisations have called on Ottawa to prevent Bhagwat from entering the country. Canadian lawmakers have also urged action against the RSS.
Founded in 1925, the RSS is widely regarded as the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The organisation has faced growing international scrutiny in recent years. Senior RSS figures, including General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, have undertaken visits to the United States, Britain and Germany as the group seeks to counter criticism and opposition to possible sanctions under the U.S. Global Magnitsky framework.
IAMC has separately called on Madison Square Garden to cancel Bhagwat’s appearance and urged New York officials to publicly oppose giving the RSS leadership a platform.
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