HinduPACT has accused the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) of running a “smear campaign” against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat ahead of his proposed visit to the United States. The Hindu advocacy organisation said statements by USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood and Commissioner Gene Mills opposing Bhagwat’s visit lacked balance and unfairly portrayed Hindu institutions as dangerous.
In a statement issued in San Ramon, California, HinduPACT alleged that the commission had turned religious freedom into a platform for ideological attacks against Hindu organisations and India. “This is not scrutiny. It is an attempt to criminalize Hindu civilizational organization, stigmatize Hindu public leadership, and recast India’s majority tradition as suspect in the court of American opinion,” it said.
The organisation also criticised Mills for calling for sanctions against RSS members allegedly responsible for violations of freedom of religion or belief. It said such a demand lacked “rigor, due process, or evidentiary discipline”.
HinduPACT alleged that USCIRF had shown little interest in anti-Hindu hatred, temple vandalism or the civic exclusion faced by Hindus in the United States. It also accused the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) of supporting the campaign against Bhagwat’s visit.
Ajay Shah, founder and chair of HinduPACT, accused the federal commission of abandoning its mandate and adopting what he called an anti-Hindu narrative. “USCIRF has disgraced its mandate. When its chair speaks about India and the RSS, he sounds less like the head of a pluralistic American commission and more like an advocate for a hardened anti-Hindu narrative,” Shah said.
“Mohan Bhagwat leads one of the world’s most consequential Hindu organizations. He should not be met with slander scripted by CAIR, IAMC, and HfHR, groups that have made a habit of treating Hindu self-assertion as extremism,” he added.
Shah said the RSS had worked for decades in relief operations, education, village uplift and social organisation. “American Hindus see the pattern clearly. We will not accept a taxpayer-funded body being used to malign our faith, our institutions, and India’s democratic voice,” he said.
USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood referred to the RSS as an overarching organization whose affiliates have committed acts of violence against religious minorities. Commissioner Gene Mills said RSS leaders, even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be honoured with high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies. Instead, Mills said the US Government should concentrate on implementing sanctions against RSS members identified as responsible for violations of freedom of religious belief.
The comments by Mahmood and Mills were shared on USCIRF’s X account.
India rejected USCIRF’s latest remarks targeting the RSS, calling the US body biased and lacking credibility ahead of Mohan Bhagwat’s planned visit to the US, Canada and UK. The latest exchange follows the USCIRF’s annual report released in March, which had criticised India over alleged religious freedom violations and supported targeted sanctions against individuals and organisations, including the RSS.
Mohan Bhagwat’s upcoming tour of the US, Canada and the UK is part of the RSS centenary celebrations and its global outreach programme. The tour aims to engage mainstream societies in different countries and counter misinformation while conveying the message of universal oneness.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal commission created under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. It monitors religious freedom conditions abroad and makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress. Its recommendations are advisory and are not binding on the US government.
For HinduPACT and American Hindus, the USCIRF’s statements are seen as a continuation of a pattern of selective outrage and anti-Hindu bias, even as the RSS seeks to present its philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam to global audiences during Bhagwat’s visit.
