U.S. panel on religious freedom calls for sanctions over event
Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is scheduled to deliver remarks Saturday at Madison Square Garden before an audience of about 5,000 members of Indian American groups. According to the Associated Press, the “Universal Oneness Celebration” — organized by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue — has drawn protests, a denunciation from the mayor of New York City, and a call for sanctions from a U.S. panel on religious freedom.
The AP described the RSS as a Hindu nationalist organization and a right-wing paramilitary group founded a century ago, and reported that it is widely considered the ideological parent of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The wire service described Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a polarizing figure both in India and among the diaspora, and reported that Modi emerged from the RSS. Critics, the AP reported, have accused the RSS of promoting the political ideology of Hindutva, which the wire service translated as “the essence of being Hindu” and said seeks to define Indian culture and national identity in terms of Hindu values.
The opposition to the gathering has come from three directions, the AP reported: organized street-level protests, the office of New York City’s mayor, and a U.S. panel on religious freedom that has called for sanctions in connection with the event.