Washington/New York: Days after calling for sanctions on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the head of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Asif Mahmood has said that he was open to a sit-down with the organisation’s chief Mohan Bhagwat.
The RSS Sarsanghchalak is now in New York and will be addressing a gathering there later in the day.
“I would definitely be open to sit down if there is an opportunity. We never give up an opportunity for dialogue. If there is anything that can be arranged, we would be happy to sit down with him, talk more, bring more awareness, and there might be some assurances, there might be some guarantees they can give us, and we can change our mind,” Mahmood was quoted as saying by ANI.
The USCIRF, a bipartisan federal agency, had called for sanctions against the RSS ahead of Bhagwat’s visit to the US.
The goal of the USCIRF wasn’t to “go and hurt anybody” but to “do good for the people who are repressed in that country and society”, Mahmood said, as reported by Hindustan Times.
“We will very well be willing to do that if that happens. But we haven’t been able to get this opportunity. Obviously, as I told you, we have tried many, many times to get the visa,” he added.
The USCIRF had earlier expressed concern over Bhagwat’s visit to the US and called on the federal government to revoke his visa. In a statement earlier this week, the panel called on the US government to consider sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials “complicit in religious freedom violations.”
“Religious freedom conditions in India continue to deteriorate as violence and incitement are frequently used to target religious minority communities. We urge the US government to consider targeted sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials complicit in religious freedom violations, including revoking the visa issued to Mohan Bhagwat and making him ineligible for future entry into the United States,” Mahmood had said.