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NEW YORK: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has voiced opposition to an upcoming event featuring Mohan Bhagwat, chief of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Bhagwat, who heads the Hindu nationalist organisation, is scheduled to speak at an event in Manhattan on Saturday, August 29. The event’s website describes it as a celebration of “universal unity” and says Hindus living in the United States will attend.
Several individuals and organisations in New York have objected to Bhagwat’s participation, citing the RSS’s controversial history and its Hindu nationalist ideology.
Mamdani said he did not support the event but questioned whether New York City had the legal authority to cancel a private gathering.
“I don’t support it. But I don’t know that New York City has the legal authority to cancel a private event,” he said.
Mamdani, who has spoken in favour of a pluralistic and secular India, said his family had raised him to view India as a society where people of all faiths should enjoy equal rights and inclusion.
“It is painful to see the rise of an ideology rooted in an exclusionary or narrow vision,” he said.