UK rights groups demand boycott of Hindu supremacist RSS chief
Diaspora and rights groups urge British officials to shun Mohan Bhagwat’s visit, warning RSS-linked Hindu nationalism threatens minorities and social cohesion
LONDON (MNTV) — More than 20 diaspora and rights groups have urged British authorities to boycott visiting Hindu supremacist leader Mohan Bhagwat and publicly condemn his organization, warning that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s expanding overseas activities could deepen religious polarization in Britain.
Bhagwat, head of the RSS, is visiting Britain from Sept. 2 to 7 as part of a three-country tour that has already taken him to the United States and Canada.
The RSS has stepped up international outreach during its centenary year, using diaspora platforms to engage political, religious and community leaders abroad.
In a letter to British authorities, organizations including South Asia Solidarity Group, Hindus for Human Rights U.K., U.K. Indian Muslim Council, Dalit Solidarity Network and Indian Workers Association described the trip as a “charm offensive” aimed at improving the RSS’s international image.
They urged David Smith, Britain’s special envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Jim Shannon, chair of the parliamentary group on religious freedom, to stay away from Bhagwat’s events and publicly condemn the RSS.
The groups also called for targeted sanctions against members and affiliates accused of involvement in religious persecution.
The RSS, founded in 1925, is the ideological parent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the organizational center of a vast network promoting Hindutva, an ideology seeking to reshape secular India around Hindu identity.
Critics and rights groups have linked the movement to growing hostility and violence against Muslims, Christians and other minorities, while the RSS maintains that it promotes cultural nationalism and social unity.
The British groups warned that Bhagwat’s visit could “further polarize the Indian diaspora” and create fear among communities targeted by Hindu supremacist organizations.
They also cited the writings of former RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar, who approvingly invoked Nazi Germany’s treatment of minorities while articulating his vision of Hindu nationhood.
Separate representations urged London Mayor Sadiq Khan to distance himself from Bhagwat, deny RSS-linked events access to venues controlled by the Greater London Authority and clarify what measures Metropolitan Police are taking to protect potentially targeted communities.
Bhagwat faced similar opposition during the U.S. leg of his tour. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called for his visa to be revoked and urged targeted sanctions over alleged complicity in religious freedom violations, while New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly criticized the RSS’s “exclusionary vision.”
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