Mohan Bhagwat in America: Indian-American Democrats Split the Diaspora
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat at a function in New Delhi in 2022!
By AMIT KUMAR
Mohan Bhagwat’s US visit and his scheduled Madison Square Garden appearance have opened a fresh political fault line within the Indian American community, with Democratic voices opposing the RSS chief’s event.
New Delhi, August 26, 2026 — RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s mega diaspora outreach in the US has run into the crosshairs of the American politics. A large number of Indian American Democrats are amplifying campaigns to cancel Bhagwat’s Maddison Square event on August 29.
Bhagwat arrived in New York on Tuesday as a part of his three-nation tour. Bhagwat will also be visiting Canada and the UK. The RSS chief’s three-nation tour coincides with the centenary celebrations of the outfit. Earlier, RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosbole had toured the US, the UK, and Germany to make bridges for Bhagwat’s trip.
Some of the key faces of the Democratic party in the US, who are aiming to contest the Mid-Term elections in November this year, are at the forefront of the campaign against Bhagwat’s MSG event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also has held an event at the same venue in the past.
“I call on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cancel the Madison Square Garden event featuring Mohan Bhagwat, one of the most prominent and dangerous leaders of far-right Hindu fundamentalism in India,” Kshama Sawant, a Democrat, wrote on X. She is in the fray for the primary for the Mid-Term elections in the US.
Sawant alleged that “Bhagwat is the so-called supreme leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which was founded in 1925, and is the hardline, ideological backbone of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s far-right Bharatiya Janata Party. From its early days, the RSS modelled itself after Nazi Germany and continues to base itself on fascist ideas, violence against Muslims and other minorities, and oppression of working people.”
“Since Modi came to power in 2014, India has seen horrific escalation of mass repression and violence in regions such as Kashmir, and increasing attacks on Muslims, oppressed-caste communities, and working and poor people as a whole,” Sawant further alleged.
Sunita Vishwanath, self-described progressive Hindu in New York, also appealed to Mamdani, the NYC Mayor, to cancel the MSG event. Mamdani in a press conference on Tuesday sympathized with protests against Bhagwat’s MSG event, saying he “holds pluralistic values”, while stressing his Indian heritage. Yet, Mamdani suggested that cancelling a private event may be out of the scope of the NYC mayor office.
Political observers in the US noted that the Indian diaspora is largely split after the emergence of Trumpism, which has targeted immigrants, with a large section of the Indian-origin Americans backing Democrats now. This section of the Indian Americans is also aligning against the far-right ideology, which they see reflected in the RSS.
Asif Mahmood, another Democrat, wrote on X, urging that “Mamdani has a moral, civic, and professional responsibility to ensure that iconic public spaces in New York are not used to legitimize leaders of organizations with a deeply controversial record on religious nationalism and the treatment of minorities.”
Incidentally, the Indian diaspora has been the focus of Modi, as well as the ruling BJP and the RSS. But the rise of Trumpism, which is also seen as White Supremacist campaign, seems to have riled the Indian diaspora.
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