RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's religious harmony pitch: A paradigm shift?

The RSS chief's engagements with diaspora in the US draw sharp reactions back home. Archis Mohan writes

In his speeches and interactions on Saturday in New York, Rashtriya Swayaymsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat sought to respond to criticisms that the Sangh Parivar is “exclusionary”, defending India’s cultural ethos being that of unity in diversity, where diversity is celebrated “as a decoration of oneness”. He also said that any Hindu who believes Muslims should be “driven out” of India cannot remain a Hindu. 

Bhagwat addressed two events on Saturday—the ‘One World: One Humanity Faith Leaders Summit’ and the ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’—organised by the American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD), at the Infosys Theatre in Madison Square Garden. The RSS has said that its chief’s US visit is part of the organisation’s centenary celebrations. Bhagwat arrived in the US on Tuesday, and will also visit Canada and the United Kingdom. 

The RSS chief said that in India people of all denominations lived, and the country has sheltered all.  

“We as RSS think, because we have this knowledge that world humanity is one, it is our duty to go all over the world and tell everybody that, in spite of diversities, we are one,” he said.  

“Muslim brothers asked me a question: You are a Hindu organisation, you see Hindu Rashtra, what about us Muslims? Would you drive us out? I said, no, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslims in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu,” Bhagwat said. “Whoever is in need, we (the RSS) are serving,” he said.  

The RSS chief said socio-religious organisations do desire to influence public policy and politics, but their work should begin with society, and decried politics having become a “game of self-interest”. In India, Bhagwat’s speech was criticised. Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the RSS chief’s language changes when the audience changes since in India it has for the last 100 years propagated the idea of a Hindu Rashtra. “The RSS will seemingly go to any length to mobilise funds from the Indian diaspora for its Vichar Parivaar that sows communal seeds in the society,” Kharge said. The Karnataka minister flagged the role of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS’s overseas wing) in diaspora mobilisation, and of the American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD), ‘a relatively new organisation that presents itself as an advocate for interfaith dialogue and an inclusive future with no apparent mention of its links to the RSS ecosystem, but has been founded by its members”. Former Union minister Kapil Sibal, currently an Independent Rajya Sabha MP, described Bhagwat’s speech as “double-speak when abroad”.  

“You accept diversity abroad; you do not tolerate diversity at home,” Sibal said. In a post on X, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi termed it the “oldest trick in the RSS playbook” where “some words are for the world, and some are for its own members.”

The RSS chief’s US visit comes on the heels of his outreach to the youth in India that took place after the Sangh Parivar, especially its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its top leadership, faced flak from the youth protesters in the national capital. The agitation forced the RSS to introspect. At its three-day coordination meeting in Visakhapatnam, which concluded on August 21, the RSS discussed in detail “the thinking, aspirations, creative potential and concerns about the future of the younger generation, as well as their role in nation-building.” Top RSS leaders and of its affiliates attended the meeting, including BJP national chief Nitin Nabin. 

Controversy has preceded Bhagwat’s US visit as well. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani opposed the RSS event, and said it was troubling to see the rise of a movement “that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country.”  

Mamdani said his vision of India is of “a pluralistic society, of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person who was from India.”

 

According to an RSS statement, “It was stated (at the coordination meeting) that instead of merely having a didactic dialogue with youth, it is necessary to engage with them directly, understand their feelings and concerns, and through dialogue develop a sense of affinity towards the country, culture, and social values.”

 

 On August 6, Bhagwat had addressed students in Mumbai on the theme of “the role of youth in uniting the world, the Indian way”.

 

At his second event on Saturday evening, Bhagwat’s message to the Indian diaspora was that they should be loyal towards their “karmabhoomi”, that is the US, but pursue a sustainable life based on the sustainable values that they have imbibed from their “janmabhoomi”, which is India, and “that is Bharat’s expectation from you,” he said.