Indian opposition urges ban on Hindutva group RSS

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has called for a ban on the Hindu supremacist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after a United States government advisory body recommended targeted sanctions against the group over alleged religious freedom violations.

The demand came after the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent bipartisan body that advises the U.S. government, released its annual report recommending sanctions against the RSS as well as India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

Sharing the recommendation on social media platform X, the Congress party said the United States should impose restrictions on the RSS, arguing that the organization represents a threat to India’s constitutional framework and religious harmony.

“The USCIRF has warned that the RSS poses a threat to people’s religious freedom,” the party said. It also recalled that India’s first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, banned the organization following the 1948 assassination of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

In its report, the USCIRF recommended that the U.S. administration consider targeted sanctions against the RSS and R&AW, including asset freezes and travel bans on individuals or entities deemed responsible for serious violations of religious freedom.

The commission also urged the U.S. State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern,” a classification under the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act reserved for governments accused of systematic and severe violations of religious freedom.

The report further suggested linking future U.S. arms sales, economic assistance and bilateral trade engagement with India to measurable improvements in religious freedom protections.

According to the commission, conditions for religious minorities in India continued to deteriorate in 2025. It cited the expansion of anti-conversion laws in several Indian states, allegations of arbitrary detentions and deportations of religious refugees, and repeated vigilante attacks against minority communities.

The report referenced communal violence reported in states such as Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, attributing some incidents to activities of Hindu extremist organizations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

It also criticized legislative changes affecting Muslim religious endowments and raised concerns over the detention of activists linked to protests against India’s controversial citizenship law in 2020.

Among the cases highlighted were the continued imprisonment of Muslim activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, which the commission said reflected broader concerns over the use of security laws to suppress dissent.

The report also cited incidents following the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians, saying the event contributed to a surge in anti-Muslim sentiment and retaliatory violence in several regions.

Indian authorities have previously rejected USCIRF assessments, accusing the commission of misrepresenting the country’s social and political conditions.