Activists are urging New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cancel an event that will be held at Madison Square Garden this weekend and will be headlined by the head of India's Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh paramilitary organisation (RSS).
Demonstrators are expected to assemble outside City Hall on Tuesday to demand the mayor cancel the event, which will feature controversial RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and to condemn the organisation's growing influence in the United States.
"Mohan Bhagwat does not represent Hindus. He leads an extremist Hindu nationalist movement that has fueled violence, exclusion and fear for minority communities," Sravya Tadepalli, deputy executive director of Hindus for Human Rights, said in a statement.
"New York should not provide the RSS with a stage on which religious nationalism can be repackaged as unity. We will gather at City Hall to defend a genuinely pluralistic vision of an India where no faith is used to determine who belongs or who holds power," Tadepalli added.
Activists have told Middle East Eye that Tuesday's rally will build on a letter that has been signed by dozens of human rights and community groups, as well as local officials Brad Lander and Shahana Hanif.
