The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has called for sanctions on India’s Hindutva ideological parent body Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for its flagrant violations of religious freedom. Sonia Sarkar warns that Donald Trump may pay no heed to it, because of his own ties with the far-right network
In February, the independent United States Commission On International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), called for sanctions on India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent body of Hindu majoritarian ideology Hindutva. USICRF recommended the Trump administration freeze RSS assets and/or bar its entry into the US. Claiming that RSS is responsible for severe 'violations of religious freedom', it recommended placing India alongside Pakistan, China, North Korea, and Iran as a country 'of particular concern'.
In 2025, the RSS celebrated its centenary year. To mark the occasion, it announced a global expansion. But the RSS’s global presence is already huge. RSS is the largest, richest, and most successful far-right network in history. It has normalised far-right mobilisation through the strategic creation of 2,831 proxy organisations across 40-plus countries.
The political wing of RSS, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), currently governs India. Unsurprisingly, the party reacted sharply to the call for RSS sanctions. Around 275 former Indian judges, civil servants and diplomats protested that RSS in fact contributes to social service and nation-building.
An independent US monitoring body has claimed that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is responsible for severe violations of religious freedom throughout India
RSS’s Hindutva ideology portrays Hindus as superior. Muslims, it constructs as the 'other'. The Hindutva organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is a member of Sangh Parivar, an umbrella term for Hindutva organisations affiliated to the RSS. In 1992, mobs led by the VHP demolished the sixteenth century Babri mosque in northern city Ayodhya, claiming it was the birthplace of Hindu god Ram. The riots following the demolition killed around 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. In 2022, when Narendra Modi was Gujarat's chief minister, the VHP planned violence that killed 1,000 people – again, mostly Muslims.
Hindu nationalist mobs, who enjoy State impunity for instigating violence against Muslims and Christians, are members of RSS-linked organisations.
As Linda Gazova points out, RSS has tarnished India’s image as a 'unitary, democratic nation, potentially weakening its soft power and moral authority'. RSS-linked Hindutva groups operating from the US have strong links with RSS chapters in India.
Many RSS-linked Hindutva groups operating from the US have strong linkages with RSS chapters in India
Indian migrants who moved to the US between the 1970s and 1990s established several such organisations. These include the American Sangh, led largely by Indian-origin professionals, and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which functions as the RSS’s international wing. The HSS runs 267 shakhas – centres for physical training, mobilisation, ideological stimulation and networking – in 33 states. These account for roughly one-sixth of the approximately 1,600 RSS-maintained shakhas worldwide outside India. HSS is particularly strong in California, Texas, and New Jersey – all key hubs for RSS activities and outreach.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) is an overseas extension of the VHP. The Overseas Friends of BJP-USA (OFBJP) is the overseas branch of India’s ruling BJP. It is registered in the US as a foreign agent. One organisation, Sewa International, has links with the RSS-affiliated Sewa Bharati in India.
Indian diaspora communities in the US contribute substantial financial resources and organisational support to RSS’s social and educational initiatives. This network of influence includes family- and youth-focused programmes, cultural events, temple-based gatherings, and charitable organisations supporting education and healthcare.
Last year, US-based news outlet Prism reported that lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs received $330,000 on behalf of the RSS in the first three quarters of 2025. RSS' aim was to lobby officials in the US Senate and House of Representatives on their behalf. Public records indicate this was the first time the RSS had hired lobbyists in the US. In 2026, the firm terminated the campaign after this exposure by Prism.
Indian diaspora communities in the US contribute substantial financial resources and organisational support to RSS’s social and educational initiatives
RSS actors have developed linkages with American white nationalists, too. More than 100 individuals associated with American Sangh, HSS, VHPA, and OFBJP gave financial backing to Republican politician Tulsi Gabbard during her first two congressional terms from 2014–2019 (Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister of India in 2014). Gabbard, in turn, helped reframe Modi’s image in the US. In 2005, Modi faced a US visa ban following violence in Gujarat.
The RSS amplifies Hindutva priorities in US domestic and foreign policy through the Hindu American Foundation and the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies. It finances campaigns through the Hindu American Political Action Committee (HAPAC), and through direct lobbying. Federal Election Commission records indicate that between 2012 and 2020, HAPAC spent over $172,000 on influencing US elections.
A Hindutva-aligned group, Hindus for America First, endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential race over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Earlier, in 2016, the Republican Hindu Coalition, which emphasised that countering radical Islam should remain a key focus of US foreign policy, had organised Trump campaign fundraising efforts.
Ram Madhav and Swapan Dasgupta, Indian intellectuals representing the RSS and BJP, are both active in the far-right Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and National Conservatism Conference (NatCon). The conferences are organised by influential American conservative think-tanks, which back Trump’s MAGA project.
All of which means that Trump is unlikely to pay any heed to the recent USCIRF appeal to sanction RSS in the United States.
No.47 a thread on the 'illiberal wave' 🌊 sweeping world politics
