NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Alliance News): New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday that he does not support an upcoming Manhattan event featuring the head of India’s Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), while acknowledging that the city may not have jurisdiction to cancel a private gathering.
Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the RSS, is scheduled to speak at the August 29 event, according to the organisers’ website.
“I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction over cancelling a private event,” Mamdani said when asked whether the event should be cancelled.
Mamdani, who is the first Muslim and Indian American mayor of New York City, said the India he learned about from his family was a pluralistic and secular republic in which everyone belonging to the country had a place.
“It has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision,” he said.
Event promotes Hindu American community
The August 29 gathering is being promoted as the “Universal Oneness Celebration” and is expected to bring together members of the Hindu American community.
Organisers, American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue, say the event is supported by several Hindu American organisations and is intended to promote shared heritage and interfaith unity.
However, several local organisations have criticised the event because of Bhagwat’s participation and concerns surrounding the RSS.
The RSS is a powerful Hindu organisation that has ideological links to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The organisation said in May that it had organised foreign visits, including to the United States, to counter perceptions that it is a paramilitary group involved in attacks against minority communities.
RSS faces allegations of intolerance
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has accused the RSS of involvement in acts of violence and intolerance against minority communities over several decades.
The RSS rejects such accusations and describes itself as a Hindu-centric civilisational and cultural movement focused on uniting Hindus and advancing what it calls India’s national interests.
The organisation says its objective is to take the nation to the “pinnacle of glory”.
United Nations bodies and human rights organisations have raised concerns about the treatment of religious minorities in India in recent years.
They have pointed to alleged increases in hate speech, a religion-based citizenship law and the demolition of properties owned by Muslims.
Indian government rejects discrimination allegations
The BJP-led Indian government has rejected allegations that its policies discriminate against minorities.
The government says its welfare programmes, including food subsidies and electrification initiatives, benefit people across religious communities.
The controversy surrounding the New York event comes as Mamdani, who took office as the city’s mayor after winning the election, faces questions over how his administration will address politically and religiously sensitive events involving communities across the city.
