SMASH HINDUTVA TERROR!

Mohan Bhagwat, leader of the world’s largest Hindu nationalist organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is visiting the U.S., Canada and Britain. His visit is a massive provocation! The RSS is a fascist organization whose founders lauded Hitler then and today take inspiration from Zionism for building a Hindu-supremacist India. With Gaza, ICE terror and the growth of reactionary movements internationally, opposing Bhagwat’s visit cannot remain a purely Indian or South Asian affair. It is therefore in the interest of the labor movement, minorities and the left throughout the U.S., Canada and Britain to mobilize in the broadest numbers and shut down RSS events! RSS murdabad!

The RSS is the ideological and organizational force behind India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has governed for twelve years under Prime Minister Modi. From cow-lynchings to the brutal war against the Maoists, Modi raj has normalized terror against Muslims, Dalits, adivasis, minorities and the left. Following recent nationwide protests against pervasive corruption in education, thugs from RSS-affiliated student organization, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), unleashed violence upon students at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, West Bengal. BJP supporters are also alleged to have beaten to death the father of Adbul Hafiz, a youth active in the protests. These fascists must be defeated! If Bhagwat’s visit goes without a decisive challenge, it will only embolden the RSS to incite havoc at home.

Many organizations in the diaspora have announced their opposition to Bhagwat’s visit. This includes the Indian Overseas Congress (USA), the Indian American Muslim Council, Hindus for Human Rights, Canadian Forum for Human Rights & Democracy in India, South Asian Dalit Adivasi Network and others. In the U.S., where Bhagwat is scheduled to address a crowd of 5000 in Madison Square Garden (MSG) on August 29, left-wing and liberal groups have organized a counter-demonstration near the location. And following appeals by many community leaders in the region, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has opposed the event too.

The greater the numbers, the better. Numbers are necessary, but politics are key. If we really want to send a message to the RSS and shut down their events, we need to be clear-eyed about how to do so. Individuals and organizations in Canada and Britain have called on their governments to ban Mohan Bhagwat, while in the U.S. many are looking to politicians and institutions to intervene. This is a dead end. Capitalist governments are not our allies in the struggle against the fascist threat. Modi himself was banned and boycotted by several Western governments following the 2002 anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, only to be welcomed with open arms when the political winds shifted.

The same applies to looking to figures like Mamdani. In response to the scheduled event at MSG, Mamdani said, “I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction on cancelling a private event.” This is precisely the problem with looking to politicians instead of mobilizing the masses—it’s like going into battle with your hands tied behind your back.

We need the broadest possible united front to confront and shut down Bhagwat’s visit, but the answer to the RSS must be found in the independent mobilization of those whom it threatens: workers, immigrants, religious minorities, Dalits and the left. Smash Hindutva terror! Inquilaab zindabad!