An event in New York City featuring a prominent Hindu nationalist is being promoted as an invitation to send a positive message that “the world is one family”. But an array of faith groups, advocacy organisations and unprivileged-caste organisations say they are not convinced. They fear Saturday’s rally, held at Madison Square Garden, is instead a high-profile effort to whitewash a record of discrimination and violence.
At issue is the Universal Oneness Celebration, hosted by the American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue, a nonprofit that purports to advance “greater peace and harmony”. One of its keynote speakers, however, will be Mohan Bhagwat, the leader of the Hindu paramilitary organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). His organisation has been accused of embracing discriminatory policies and stoking violence against minorities, including India’s Muslim, Christian and Sikh populations.
Protests are expected outside Madison Square Garden to denounce Bhagwat’s appearance. She told Al Jazeera she is sceptical about the event organisers’ claims about embracing the world as “one family”. Advocates say that Hindu nationalist groups are working to expand their influence in the United States, where roughly 2.5 million Hindus live.
To do that, they have utilised a variety of appeals to soften the image of the RSS, such as celebrations of Hindu culture and campaigns to highlight anti-Hindu discrimination. Sravya Tadepalli, the deputy executive director of Hindus for Human Rights, sees Saturday’s rally as part of that trend. Her group opposes the event.
The RSS is widely considered the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has ruled India since 2014 and sought to remake the country along Hindu nationalist lines. In remarks to the 2024 National Conservatism Conference in Washington, DC, BJP Vice President Ram Madhav said that conservatives in the West should view India as an example of how to defeat what he called the “left, liberal, Marxist, radical Islamist cabal”. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who entered politics as an RSS cadre before becoming the head of the BJP, has championed Hindu nationalism throughout his leadership.
Like Bhagwat, he has also taken his message on the road, to speak to overseas supporters in the US. In September 2019, for instance, the prime minister addressed a crowd of 50,000 at a “Howdy, Modi!” rally in the state of Texas. The event underscored Modi’s appeal among Indians living abroad and was one of the largest such events in US history.
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