India's Hindu nationalist RSS and its influence in the United States

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is a far-right Indian paramilitary Hindu nationalist organization with close ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The leader of the RSS, Mohan Bhagwat, held a rally at Madison Square Garden on Saturday to launch a global speaking tour marking the 100th anniversary of the RSS.

The RSS’s “explicitly stated mission, its purpose, is to create a Hindu Rashtra, a Hindu nation — to take the India that is a secular and inclusive democracy and transform it into a country that is just for Hindus, where Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other minorities are basically erased,” says Sunita Viswanath, co-founder of Hindus for Human Rights Action. ”RSS affiliates, these Hindu right-wing organizations, exist in growing numbers in the diaspora, especially in America.”