Madison Square Garden in New York had an unusual visitor recently. One of the keynote speakers at the Universal Oneness Celebration event organised on August 29 was Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who, amid protests from interfaith organisations, addressed a crowd of 5,000 people.
While the protesters, in a press conference before the event, described Bhagwat as “a proponent of Hindu supremacist ideology” and the RSS as an “anti-minority” organisation, the strongest opposition came from Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City.
Despite the criticism and opposition, the RSS cadre remained focussed on its primary agenda—global outreach.
On a two-week foreign tour, Bhagwat also visited the United Kingdom and Canada.
While critics of the RSS are questioning the motive of these visits, the organisation is absolutely clear about what it wants to achieve through these tours—to have direct communication with its supporters worldwide and clear any misconceptions around the functioning of the organisation.
Members of the RSS feel that for a very long time the organisation has been functioning in the shadow of myth and propaganda. There was a need to reach out to people both in India and abroad so that the senior leaders could directly take up these issues and set the record straight.
“While people in India have started to understand the RSS because of the growing popularity, the situation is not the same abroad. People continue to have false notions about the RSS. We needed to address this,” a senior RSS leader says.
Crucial Timing
The timing of these visits is crucial. The RSS is celebrating its centenary year, and, for the first time since its inception in 1925, has decided to strengthen its global presence.
“We have been receiving several requests from the Indian diaspora and think tanks who want to know more about the RSS and its views on crucial issues. It was decided after a lot of deliberation and discussions that Bhagwat should travel abroad as the RSS turns 100,” a senior RSS leader says.
Highlighting the fact that the organisation has grown from strength to strength in its 100-year journey and has reached a position where some of its members are now part of the Union government, Ashok Malik, a New Delhi-based analyst, partner and chair (India) of The Asia Group, says: “This is a huge achievement. People around the world, be it intellectuals, members of the Indian diaspora, academics, business groups and other stakeholders, want to know more about the RSS.”
The timing of Bhagwat’s visits is crucial. The RSS is celebrating its centenary year, and, for the first time since its inception in 1925, has decided to strengthen its global presence.
The timing is also crucial because the government has been trying to negotiate a trade deal with the US for quite some time.
Although the RSS does not play a role in policymaking or interfere in the government’s decision-making process, experts feel that the presence of members of the RSS in the government has increased the curiosity of think tanks, policymakers and academics.
“Different stakeholders want to understand the views of the RSS on issues related to trade, agriculture, foreign policy and defence. While it is clear that the RSS does not interfere in matters related to governance and policy, people are interested in the RSS,” Malik explains.
Significantly, as Bhagwat took the stage at Madison Square Garden, a group of nearly 90 American politicians was preparing a different memo: they would not accept political contributions from entities linked to the RSS. The signatories include members of Congress, state legislators, mayors, local elected officials and candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Despite the negativity, the RSS chief went ahead with its scheduled tour to the UK and Canada. There was also a security risk, warned the government.
Given the presence of Khalistani elements in the US, Canada and the UK, the government warned the RSS leadership that Bhagwat would need to be careful during his visit to these three countries. The government also reached out to the security establishment in these countries to ensure there were no security hiccups.
“The situation was not so bad in the US, but we were told to be careful in the UK and Canada. The government felt that there was a possibility that the Khalistani element would try to disrupt the programme, hold protests and cause harm to people to oppose Bhagwat and the RSS,” a senior RSS leader says.
Beginning of a Trend
While this is the first time Bhagwat is travelling abroad as the RSS chief, in April, Dattatreya Hosabale, the general secretary of the RSS, visited the US, the UK and Germany. With the senior leaders of the RSS deciding to strengthen its global outreach, other senior members will visit different countries to talk to the Indian diaspora and different stakeholders after the meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha—the highest decision-making and policy making body of the RSS—in March 2027.
“There is an active Indian diaspora in more than 70 countries. Because of the work done by the members of the RSS, the organisation is present in every country having an Indian footprint. The RSS has managed to build a huge network of people, which will help it establish global outreach,” says Dilip Deodhar, a Nagpur-based analyst on issues related to the RSS.
Senior leaders of the RSS explain that organisation members have been visiting different countries and closely working with the Indian diaspora for a long time, but it is only now, after the completion of 100 years of the RSS, that the organisation is taking steps towards establishing its presence on the global stage.
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Gyan Verma is Associate Editor, Outlook
