US religious freedom panel urges sanctions on RSS leaders
US religious freedom watchdog urges sanctions on Hindu supremacist RSS members over attacks and religious freedom abuses targeting Muslims and Christians in India
WASHINGTON (MNTV) — A U.S. federal religious freedom watchdog has urged Washington to impose targeted sanctions on members of India’s Hindu supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh accused of involvement in religious freedom violations, bringing renewed scrutiny to the powerful organization ahead of its chief Mohan Bhagwat’s planned visit to the United States.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, also said RSS leaders should not be rewarded with high-level meetings or other diplomatic courtesies.
The commission is an independent, bipartisan federal body that monitors religious freedom abroad and advises the U.S. government, but does not itself have the authority to impose sanctions.
The intervention comes as Bhagwat prepares for a North American tour beginning Aug. 25 as part of the RSS’s centenary-year outreach. He is expected to attend a “Universal Oneness Celebration” in New York on Aug. 29 organized by American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD).
USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood drew attention to the RSS’s influence over Indian politics and its relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spent years working for the organization before entering electoral politics.
Mahmood described the RSS as an umbrella organization whose affiliates have been implicated in attacks against Christians, Muslims and other religious minorities in India.
The RSS sits at the center of a sprawling network of Hindu nationalist organizations collectively known as the Sangh Parivar. Its ideology of Hindutva envisions India primarily as a Hindu nation, and the organization is the ideological parent of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
USCIRF Commissioner Gene Mills went further in outlining how Washington should respond to RSS figures accused of abuses.
Rather than granting its leaders diplomatic recognition, Mills said the U.S. government should focus on sanctions against RSS members found responsible for violations of freedom of religion or belief.
Such measures would be consistent with recommendations USCIRF made in its 2026 annual report, in which the commission again called for India to be designated a “Country of Particular Concern,” a classification reserved under U.S. law for governments responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
The commission also recommended targeted measures against individuals and entities implicated in abuses, including freezing assets held in the United States and restricting their entry into the country.
Its recommendations included action against the RSS as well as India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Bhagwat’s upcoming visit has also drawn opposition from Hindus for Human Rights, a U.S.-based advocacy organization that campaigns against Hindutva and caste discrimination.
The group challenged the framing of the New York gathering around religious unity, saying a celebration of “oneness” could not obscure what it described as a politics of religious supremacy.
The controversy surrounding the visit comes as the RSS marks 100 years since its founding in 1925.
Over that century, the once-fringe Hindu nationalist organization has grown into one of India’s most influential political and ideological forces, with Modi’s rise to power giving the movement unprecedented influence over the country’s government and public institutions.
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