Washington: Ahead of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s event at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) on Thursday issued a security advisory.
The event has been titled as ‘Universal Oneness Celebration.’ The advisory, according to a HT report, urges New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to “uphold his sworn duty” to protect all New Yorkers and event attendees during the programme.
The event is scheduled to be held on August 29. The advisory was issued by the American non-profit advocacy and educational organisation that was founded in September 2003. This is based in Washington, DC. It has also asked the community to “stay vigilant.”
“COMMUNITY ADVISORY ALERT! HAF is issuing this security alert in advance of the Universal Oneness Celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Stay vigilant, remain situationally aware, and keep interactions civil. Ahead of the event, activists targeting Hindu Americans have attempted to disrupt and cancel the celebration. We urge @NYCMayor Zohran Mamdani to uphold his sworn duty to protect all New Yorkers, including event attendees, and guarantee everyone’s safety and civil rights,” the outfit wrote on X.
This advisory was issued amid criticism from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). On Wednesday, USCIRF alleged that religious freedom conditions in India were deteriorating. It has also called on the US government to consider sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials.
Earlier, Mamdani had told reporters that he didn’t support the rally.
“I also stand here as the first Indian American mayor in our city’s history. My mother’s family is all still in India. The vision of India that I was taught by my family, and the one that I grew up being very familiar with, was of a pluralistic society — a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person who was from India. It has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country, frankly. And so it is one that I find myself in deep opposition to — not only as an Indian American, but also as the mayor of a city that believes deeply in the belonging of each and every person, no matter their color, their creed, their religion, their faith, wherever they’re from,” he said, as quoted by ANI.
When asked whether the RSS rally should be cancelled, he said, “I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction over cancelling a private event.”
