NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the influential Hindu nationalist group linked to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said on Tuesday that it had organised visits abroad, including to the United States, to counter allegations that it promotes violence and intolerance against minorities.
The outreach effort follows criticism from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which stated in a report last November that the RSS “has been involved in acts of extreme violence and intolerance against members of minority groups for decades”.
The commission is a bipartisan US government body that monitors religious freedom globally and advises the president, secretary of state and Congress on related policy matters.
Modi joined the RSS in his youth, and analysts widely credit the organisation’s extensive volunteer network for helping the BJP achieve near-national dominance in Indian politics during a period marked by growing Hindu-Muslim polarisation in officially secular India.
The RSS describes itself as a “Hindu-centric civilisational, cultural movement” dedicated to uniting Hindus and advancing the nation’s development and cultural identity.
Founded in 1925, the organisation has been banned multiple times, including in 1948 after a former member assassinated independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
Opposition leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, have repeatedly accused the RSS of encouraging majoritarian politics and deepening intolerance toward minority communities.
RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said he had addressed gatherings in the US, Germany and United Kingdom, with additional visits planned to other regions.
He said the purpose of the engagements was to “dispel certain misgivings and misconceptions about the RSS”.
According to Hosabale, the organisation is commonly accused of “pulling society backwards”, functioning as a paramilitary group, promoting Hindu supremacy and reducing minorities to second-class citizens.
“The fact is entirely different,” Hosabale said during a rare media briefing held at the RSS headquarters in New Delhi.
He added that RSS representatives met academics, policymakers and business leaders during the visits and planned to expand outreach efforts to more countries across Europe and Southeast Asia.
Under Modi’s leadership, the BJP has already fulfilled two long-standing RSS objectives: constructing a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram at the site of the demolished Babri mosque and revoking the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, formerly India’s only Muslim-majority state.
Hosabale said another major objective of the RSS is eliminating caste-based discrimination within Hindu society.
The report also noted that concerns among underprivileged caste groups contributed to a setback for Modi in India’s 2024 national election, where the BJP lost its parliamentary majority and was forced to depend on coalition allies to remain in power.
