India’s Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is the largest voluntary paramilitary organization on earth. It is an ideological body, and India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party is the political arm. What the RSS teaches, the BJP implements politically.
Current situation as of August 2026:
The leader of the RSS will be visiting the United States and Canada. His visit must be opposed due to the fact that the RSS is the force behind the attacks on Muslims & Christians in India. At Justice For All, we have a multi-stage approach to his visit.
- Policy memos to several US and Canadian government agencies, including the US Dept. of State
- A on-ground protest
- Memos and information packets to universities on why he should not be allowed to speak on campus
- Multi-organizational collaboration
Mohan Bhagwat’s US/Canada visit: Why it must be opposed?
- Bhagwat is the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) of India. The RSS presents itself as a cultural and social organization, its ideological foundations are inspired by Nazi Germany and the holocaust. Current practices have raised serious concerns among human rights organizations regarding religious majoritarianism, exclusion and hostility toward minorities.
- The RSS is the ideological parent of the Sangh Parivar, a “family” of Hindu nationalist political, social, educational, charitable and diaspora organizations.
- The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for targeted sanctions against the RSS, which would include its leader.
- The CIA has termed the Bajrang Dal, a member of the Sangh Parivar as a extremist militant organization.
- The current ruling party of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely considered to be the political arm of the RSS. Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister has been associated with the RSS since his younger days.
- Bhagwat presents himself as the “inclusive leader” of the RSS, presenting Hindu culture, and saying that Muslims or Christians in India are still representative of the culture of India.
- There have been several attacks on Muslims and Christians in India by members of the organizations inspired by the RSS. In Manipur, almost 250 churches were destroyed by rampaging extremist Hindu mobs, quietly and tacitly spurred on by the state’s BJP Chief Minister. By extension, this would reflect back on the ideology of the RSS.
- Muslims and Christians are stopped by self-styled cow vigilate mobs and beaten, lynched, and often forced to chant Jai Sri Ram (victory to the (Hindu god) Ram) against their belief system and wishes.
- While Bhagwat has met with Muslim leaders, and assured them of the RSS’s so-called inclusiveness from a cultural viewpoint, he has not openly delegated his followers, nor strongly spoken against and called for stopping the attacks against the victims of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, BJP leaders and supporters, all of which are inspired by the RSS ideology.
- The insulation Bhagwat maintains enables him to personally steer clear of the attacks on minorities.
- The American branch of the RSS is the Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh, which operates several shakhas (centers) in many US cities.
- Followers of the RSS idealogy have created alliances with Zionists and Islamophobes, and in certain cases have, with their partners, opposed the establishment of mosques and other institutions initiated by Muslims.
- The tour’s organizers have described its purpose as addressing international perceptions of the RSS, indicating an effort to strengthen the organization’s legitimacy and influence. Bhagwat’s visit would help whitewash the RSS’s international image, attempting to present a more acceptable public face without a demonstrated change to its core exclusionary ideology, and while minimizing documented abuses raised by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and journalists.
USCIRF Recommendation:
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in their 2026 report called for targeted sanctions against the RSS for their “responsibility and tolerance of serious violations of religious freedom”.
Download USCIRF 2026 report here.
Is a genocide of Muslims underway in India:
Georgetown University has written a factsheet on the RSS:
Download an archived copy here.
It is the ideology of the RSS that has prompted several extremist Hindu’s to attack Muslims and Christians.
The Nazification of India:
The RSS found its roots in Fascism, and early leaders such as Golwarkar praised Hitler’s methods, stating “Jewish purge is a good lesson to learn and profit by”.
The Nazification of India report examines parallels between Nazi Germany and the India of today
India is Supplying Arms to Israel for the Gaza Genocide:
Amnesty International recently released a report on India’s involvement in the Gaza genocide by supplying arms and ammunition to Israel. We have summarized it and released some actions for you to take.