USCIRF seeks sanctions against RSS leaders ahead of Mohan Bhagwat's US visit
USCIRF chair Asif Mahmood said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member of the RSS, which he described as an umbrella organisation whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims.
"India's PM Modi is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian umbrella organisation whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, incl. Christians & Muslims. Now the RSS leader, Mohan Bhagwat, plans to visit the US," Mahmood said in remarks posted on the commission's X account.
USCIRF Commissioner Gene Mills said RSS leaders, even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be honoured with high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies. "Instead, the USG (US Government) should focus on imposing sanctions on RSS members found responsible for FoRB (freedom of religious belief) violations," Mills said.
The remarks come ahead of Bhagwat's visit to New York on August 29 for the "Universal Oneness Celebrations", organised by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD). Bhagwat is scheduled to begin his North American tour on August 25 as part of the RSS's centenary-year outreach programme, and is expected to cover the US, Canada and the UK.
Advocacy group Hindus for Human Rights said Bhagwat's visit cannot be separated from the RSS network's violence against Muslims and Christians. "A celebration of 'oneness' cannot conceal the politics of religious supremacy," the group said in a post on X.
In March, the USCIRF annual report criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom and backed "targeted sanctions" on individuals and entities such as the RSS and the Research and Analysis Wing. The report also recommended that the US designate India as a "Country of Particular Concern" over alleged religious-freedom violations.
The commission's recommendations are advisory and do not automatically translate into US government policy.
India rejected the report, saying the commission has persistently presented a "distorted and selective" picture of the country that relies on "questionable sources and ideological narratives".
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in a statement on March 16, said that instead of persisting with "selective criticism" of India, the USCIRF should reflect on "disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on Hindu temples in the US, selective targeting of India, and growing intolerance and intimidation of members of the Indian diaspora in the US, which merit serious attention".
(With inputs from PTI)
