More than 1,000 people across the US have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling on the State Department to deny or revoke a US visa for Mohan Bhagwat, the head of India’s right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS.
The letters, collected by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) alongside allied organisations, call on Washington to cancel Bhagwat's scheduled August 29, appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City amid widespread public opposition.
"Mohan Bhagwat does not represent Indian Americans, and Madison Square Garden should not present him as though he does. The State Department has the authority to deny him a visa, and a federal commission has already recommended it. They must act before August 29," said Mohammed Jawad, President of the IAMC.
Sanctions calls
In March, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended targeted sanctions against the RSS, including asset freezes and visa restrictions on its leadership, citing its involvement in "acts of extreme violence and intolerance against members of minority groups for decades."
The Congressional Research Service classifies the RSS as a "hardline Hindu nationalist" organisation.
Human Rights Watch has identified the RSS and its affiliates as "most responsible" for violence against Christians and "directly responsible" for the 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat.
International watchdogs, including Genocide Watch and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Early Warning Project, have repeatedly raised alarms over state-tolerated mob violence, bulldozer demolitions of Muslim properties, and the systemic disenfranchisement of India's religious minorities.
Global pushback
The US petition follows actions in Canada, where more than 40 civil society, human rights, and faith groups urged Ottawa to bar Bhagwat, and Canadian MPs called for a ban on the RSS.
The RSS, founded in 1925, serves as the ideological parent organisation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Amid mounting scrutiny, senior RSS leaders, including General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, have recently conducted outreach tours across the US, Britain, and Germany to counter international criticism and oppose calls for Global Magnitsky sanctions.
IAMC has urged Madison Square Garden management to cancel the event and has called on New York officials to condemn the platforming of the RSS leadership.
