RSS chief’s New York appearance spotlights reach of Hindu supremacist network

NEW YORK (MNTV) — Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat is in New York for a major Hindu American gathering, bringing the leader of a Hindu supremacist organisation before a large diaspora audience at a time of growing scrutiny over the Sangh’s influence in India and abroad.

Bhagwat is due to deliver the keynote address Saturday at the “Universal Oneness Celebration” in Manhattan, organised by the American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD) Forum. More than 200 Hindu American organisations are participating in the event, which is being held during the RSS’ centenary year.

The event’s message of unity and “oneness” stands in stark contrast to the ideology associated with the RSS, which has for decades promoted a Hindu majoritarian conception of Indian nationhood.

Human Rights Watch has described the organisation as propagating a militant form of Hindu nationalism that seeks to make Hindu nationalism the basis of national identity and has portrayed Islam and Christianity as alien to India.

The RSS rejects descriptions of itself as supremacist or exclusionary, presenting itself as a cultural and social organisation working for Hindu unity and national service.

Experts, however, have long pointed to its ideological influence over India’s Hindu nationalist movement and its close relationship with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has also accused the RSS of promoting majoritarian ideology and intolerance toward minorities.

Bhagwat’s visit also draws attention to the extensive organisational infrastructure through which the Sangh operates.

A six-year investigation published by The Caravan mapped more than 2,500 organisations with concrete, traceable material ties to the RSS. The project examined shared personnel, offices, jointly organised events and domestic and foreign flows of money rather than relying simply on organisations’ ideological declarations. Its findings challenge Bhagwat’s repeated claim that the RSS does not control organisations beyond its formally acknowledged affiliates.

The investigation found that the Sangh operates through a centre-to-periphery network extending from major organisations such as the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Sewa Bharati to hundreds of smaller charities, schools, hostels, research bodies and service organisations.

The Caravan argues that these entities are connected by a bureaucratic system that enables the RSS to expand its social reach while maintaining varying degrees of public distance from many of its constituent bodies.

The network extends beyond India. Researchers documented links involving Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, VHP of America and Sewa International in the United States, including overlapping personnel, addresses and financial connections.

One Houston address, for example, was associated with several organisations and activities linked to the broader Sangh network.

The investigation also identified a particularly dense Sangh cluster in Jammu, where more than 20 organisations operated from the Ved Mandir complex and shared personnel and institutional connections. Researchers described the site as a microcosm of the RSS’ broader organisational strategy.

Bhagwat’s New York appearance therefore comes not simply as a diaspora cultural event, but as a public-facing moment for an organisation whose influence extends through a vast network of institutions — and whose experts say has played a central role in advancing a Hindu supremacist political vision in India.