New Yorkers Unite Against RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Madison Square Garden Appearance
Hindu, Muslim and interfaith groups will gather at City Hall on August 25 to oppose the spread of Hindu nationalism and RSS influence in the United States.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK, NY, August 24th, 2026 | Hindu, Muslim, interfaith and civil rights organizations will hold a press conference at New York City Hall on Saturday, August 29, opposing RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s appearance at Madison Square Garden. The RSS is a century-old Hindu nationalist organization with a documented history of religious supremacy, anti-minority violence and attacks on India’s pluralistic foundations. Bhagwat’s event, promoted as a celebration of “Universal Oneness,” attempts to spiritually sanitize that history and expand the RSS’s influence in the United States.
WHAT:
Press Conference opposing RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s New York appearance
WHEN:
Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 10:30 AM
WHERE:
Steps of New York City Hall
SPEAKERS:
Kylie Madhav, Hindus for Human Rights
Safa Ahmed, Indian American Muslim Council
Danielle Williams, Interfaith Center of New York
Reverend Mira Silwani Joyner
Reverend Micah Bucey
Pieter Friedrich, Independent Journalist
Reverend Abi Jon, New York State Council of Churches
Sarita Pandey, Save America from Hindutva Campaign
Reverend Peter Cook, Faith in the Public Square
CO-SPONSORS:
Hindus for Human Rights, Indian American Muslim Council, Emgage
MEDIA RSVP:
Faria Rehman
Campaigns and Press Relations Manager
Hindus for Human Rights
Faria@HindusforHumanRights.org
Bhagwat is the sarsanghchalak, or supreme leader, of the RSS, the century-old Hindu nationalist organization that leads the Hindu nationalist movement, which includes India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. He is scheduled to address the “Universal Oneness Celebrations” at Madison Square Garden as part of an international RSS tour beginning August 25. At the press conference, Hindu American, Muslim, interfaith and civil rights groups will push back on Bhagwat and the RSS’s efforts to represent themselves as the global Hindu community. Demonstrators will call attention to the RSS’s pursuit of a Hindu Rashtra, where the RSS seeks to replace India’s secular constitution with an ethnonationalist, Hindu nationalist government that would exclude Muslims, Christians, and other minorities from public life.
“Mohan Bhagwat does not represent Hindus. He leads an extremist Hindu nationalist movement that has fueled violence, exclusion and fear for minority communities,” said Sravya Tadepalli, Deputy Executive Director of Hindus for Human Rights. “New York should not provide the RSS with a stage on which religious nationalism can be repackaged as unity. We will gather at City Hall to defend a genuinely pluralistic vision of an India where no faith is used to determine who belongs or who holds power.”
Bhagwat’s visit also raises questions about the organizations and political networks supporting the RSS’s expansion in the United States. A recent Savera investigation, Fibs, Fronts & Fixers: The Hidden Machinery Behind Mohan Bhagwat’s U.S. Visit, traces the people and institutions organizing his appearances and examines apparent discrepancies between their public descriptions and documented connections to the RSS. Hindus for Human Rights rejects the attempt to equate opposition to Hindu nationalism with anti-Hindu bigotry. Hindutva is a political ideology. Speaking against it is essential to protecting Hindu communities from an authoritarian and exclusionary movement that seeks to subjugate the majority of Hindus and take away the freedoms of all Indians, regardless of faith.
Members of the press are invited to attend the August 25 press conference and speak with organizers, faith leaders and advocates working against religious nationalism and transnational far-right organizing.
Our press conference will also highlight the organizations and elected officials who have publicly denounced Mohan Bhagwat's event at Madison Square Garden. The elected officials who have called on MSG to cancel their upcoming event are NYC Council Members Brad Lander, Shahana Hanif, and Lincoln Restler.
The organizations who have denounced Mohan Bhagwat's presence at Madison Square Garden so far are:
18 Million Rising, Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), ASATA Asian Refugees United, Aurora Commons LLC, Boston Coalition for Palestine, Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC), Coalition of Seattle Indian Americans (CSIA), CodePink, Council on American-Islamic Relations, New York (CAIR-NY), Dalit Solidarity Forum, DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving, Ensaaf, Faith Beyond Religious Nationalism, Grassroots Asians Rising, Human Agenda, India Coalition, International Bahujan Organization, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ), Judson Memorial Church, Justice For All, Lal Morich, LittleSis / Public Accountability Initiative, Middle Church, Movement for Black Lives, Muslims for Progressive Values, New York Sikh Council, Purple Pundit, PYM Boston, Rabbis for Ceasefire, Religions for Peace USA, SACRED (South Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy), Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Sakhi for South Asian Survivors, San José Peace & Justice Center, South Asian Collective of Houston, South Asian Network, Stop Operation Kagar Coalition – NYC, Tech Justice Law, The American Council for Judaism, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, The Interfaith Center of New York, The Muslim Public Affairs Council, The Riverside Church, The Shakti Mission, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), Unite for Peace NYC, VietUnity Bay Area
Media Contact
David Dasharath Kalal
Communications Director
Hindus for Human Rights
david@hindusforhumanrights.org
347-445-0346
About Hindus for Human Rights
Hindus for Human Rights is an education and advocacy organization rooted in the values of satya (truth), nyaya (justice) and shanti (peace). We advance human rights for all by opposing caste, Hindutva, religious nationalism, racism and every form of bigotry justified in the name of faith.
Sources and Background
The August 29 Madison Square Garden appearance and the reported August 25 start of Bhagwat’s international tour have been publicly reported by India Today. HfHR’s release about the Savera investigation is available at Hindus for Human Rights, and the full report is at Savera.
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