Various organizations have protested a visit to the United Kingdom by Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent organization of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. More than 20 Indian and South Asian diaspora organizations in the country have called on Britain’s panel on religious freedom and the relevant parliamentary group to boycott his event. The organizations have also demanded steps to protect the UK’s pluralistic environment and religious harmony.
The groups criticized the RSS’s role in religious persecution. They called on David Smith MP, the U.K. Foreign Office’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, and Jim Shannon, chair of the relevant all-party parliamentary group, to publicly condemn the RSS and impose restrictions on its members and affiliates.
In a letter to the Foreign Office, the more than 20 signatory organizations alleged that Bhagwat’s visit is part of a campaign to rehabilitate the RSS’s image in the U.K. They claimed the visit could embolden RSS-affiliated groups and increase hate speech, social polarization and a climate of fear among minorities.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also been urged to stay away from Bhagwat’s event. The groups also called for Greater London Authority-controlled venues not to be used for the event, and for the Metropolitan Police to explain its preparations for handling potential communal tensions in London.
Separately, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has raised a written parliamentary question about the government’s risk assessment of Bhagwat’s visit, asking whether the government has assessed whether the foreign national’s presence could harm public interest and social harmony under the U.K.’s “unacceptable behaviour” policy.
Bhagwat’s U.K. visit is scheduled for Sept. 2-7, though details of the trip have been kept under wraps. His earlier visits to the United States and Canada also drew protests from diaspora organizations.