02/09/2026
Editorial: Red Star September 2026 Issue
On RSS Chief's Madison Square Event
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's Madison Square Garden (MSG, in New York) event organised by the new Hindutva front, American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD), has got added global attention due to the intense debate emerged regarding the event in US itself. The organisers together with hundreds of RSS affiliates in US projected the Event as 'Universal Oneness Celebration' as part of the centenary celebration of RSS. However, more than 60 inter-faith groups comprising Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, etc. , together with civil right and advocacy organisations, democratic intellectuals and, above all, the New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani himself, have come forward resolutely opposing the Event and Rally addressed by Bhagwat. On the other hand, American affiliates of far-right fascist RSS have sought to mask the anti-Muslim and anti-Christian exclusionary nationalism of RSS, by appealing for “greater peace and harmony” and propagating the message, "world is one family". Obviously, though Indian American Mamdani, as the Mayor of New York, has politically opposed the event, he lacked legal authority to shut down the meeting since everything including Visa of Bhagwat and permission for the gathering are settled at the higher level of Trump administration that works in close intimacy with the Modi government which, as all well-meaning people know, is the open or front office of RSS, world's longest-running and largest fascist organisation today. And in many respects, the Islamophobic Trump has, more or less, the same wave-length as RSS-BJP regarding the perspectives on Islam. True, this perception is deep-rooted among the far-right neofascist sections in both America and India. For instance, during the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) held in Washington in 2024, the BJP Vice President Ram Madhav had 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”. Together with NatCon, Ram Madhav is also active in the far-right Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) which is also linked with American far-right corporate think-tanks who also support both Trumpism and its Make America Great Again (MAGA) project.
In fact, Bhagwat's US visit to improve the public image of RSS was in the background of a host of new developments. For instance, many US lawmakers have resolutely criticized India's proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment (FCRA) Bill, warning that new rules on foreign funding could harm religious freedom of Christian churches and Charities and could hurt India-US bilateral relations. Recently, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent initiative within the Federal Government, has pointed out the flagrant violation of religious freedom and increasing violence targeted against religious minorities under the RSS-led Modi regime. Just two days before Bhagwat's Madison event, the USCIRF had called for Bhagwat’s visa to be revoked for “complicit in religious freedom violations”. Of course, the USCIRF recommendations, that include targeted sanctions against the Indian government, are not at all binding on the Trump regime. However, and very revealingly, while the Modi government rejected USCIRF findings, the RSS-BJP reacted sharply to the call for sanctions on RSS, through through an appeal by around 275 former Indian judges, civil servants and diplomats who came forward in defence of RSS stating that its sole concern is 'social service and nation-building'.
Bhagwat's MSG program on 29 August was scheduled in this context. In New York, as expected, hundreds of demonstrators representing Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Dalit and other interfaith organisations, under the banner "No Platform for Hate", protested outside the venue of Bhagwat's program. Some of the protestors have even equated RSS Chief's program to the N**i event that took place at MSG in 1938. However, before his declared formal event at MSG specifically held as part of RSS Centenary outreach, Mohan Bhagwat had a high-level closed-door roundtable meeting with corporate heads, industry executives, stock market specialists and Indian-American business leaders in New York City itself. In this privately held session, as reported by Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist Asha Jadeja Motwani who also participated in the corporate board-room Meet, while expressing "unshakable confidence" in Indian youth and their capability to drive real change and dismantle bureaucratic mindsets, Mohan Bhagwat also focused heavily on fostering US-India trade ties, tech synergy, and global investment. Of course, this is not surprising for those who know the integral and inseparable link between fascism and corporatism, i.e., the material basis of fascism, including RSS fascism, irrespective of its ideological foundation, is the most corrupt corporate capital. Mohan Bhagwat's private meeting with corporate heads and think-tanks underscores this fundamental law of fascism of all hues.
Of course, RSS affinity and allegiance towards the US in the postwar neocolonial period are not overnight developments. It is a postwar reincarnation or repetition of Sangh's servility to Britain till the end of the colonial phase of imperialism. And, whenever US imperialism was isolated or in trouble, the RSS was there with its unwavering solidarity and support. For instance, the RSS chief Golwalkar had sent a message of support to the American President during the Vietnam War, calling the US leader of the "Free World" against "Adharma" (meaning Communism). As we all know, during America's genocide and war-crimes on Vietnam, the Yankees had been totally isolated even from its Anglo-Saxon allies for a time. In the context of US-Zionist holocausts upon the Palestinians and US-Zionist aggression on Iran, once again, as US imperialism stands exposed before world people, RSS Chief's US visit should also be seen as part of the US-Zionist-Sanghi unholy alliance against Palestinians reaching ignominious levels.
It is not intended here to go into a debate on Bhagwat's sermon on religious harmony at MSG. His rhetoric and double-speak on Hindu-Muslim unity in America has nothing to do with the concrete reality in India where systematic and targeted violence on Muslims coupled with dienfranchisement and denial of citizenship to them are going on under Hindutva fascism. Though Bhagwat's MSG program was part of his centenary-year international outreach tour and lobbying in three countries, viz., US, Canada and UK, for reinforcing and propagating Sangh's ideology, especially among Indian diaspora, it was the unprecedented and unexpected resistance from both Americans and Indian-origin people that compelled him to speak about
the “diversity of India” and to stress that “driving out Muslims from India was NOT Hindutva”. No doubt, this approach, which is the direct opposite of what RSS is doing in India, will have its repercussions. While this revealing somersault by Bhagwat will create confusion and even despair among committed and hard-core Sanghis who substantially contribute to the Hindutva project, the opposition leaders in India have already challenged the RSS leader to openly declare the same before his ardent followers here. Further, consequent on the live relaying of the anti-RSS protests outside MSG by global media, a section of the Godi Media in India, with whom the RSS enjoyed an immunity till now, has also started reporting on the operations of RSS. No doubt, coupled with the youth protests that led to the ignominios resignation of the Minister of Education, the emerging trends do not augur well for the RSS-BJP rule in the days ahead.
(Editorial, Red Star, September 2026 Issue)
