USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood Urges Trump Administration To Consider Targeted Sanctions Against RSS Members. Commissioner Gene Mills Says RSS Leaders Should Not Receive High-Level Meetings. Bhagwat In US For Universal Oneness Celebrations At New York Aug 29. India Dismisses Panel As Biased. Recommendations Non-Binding And No US Sanctions Have Followed Previous Calls
According to Reuters and multiple outlets, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan US government advisory body, urged the Trump administration on Wednesday to impose targeted sanctions on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members found responsible for religious freedom violations, coinciding with a visit to the United States by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
USCIRF Chair Asif Mahmood called on the US government to impose targeted sanctions against RSS members and Indian officials complicit in religious freedom violations, including revoking the visa issued to Bhagwat. “India’s PM Modi is a member of the RSS, an Indian umbrella organization whose sub-groups have perpetrated attacks on religious minorities, including Christians and Muslims,” Mahmood said. Commissioner Gene Mills added that RSS leaders, “even when affiliated with the Indian government, should not be honored with high-level meetings or diplomatic courtesies.”
Bhagwat’s visit, which extends to Canada and the UK, is part of the RSS’s centenary-year outreach programme. He is scheduled to appear at the “Universal Oneness Celebrations” in New York on August 29. USCIRF’s recommendations are advisory and non-binding; Washington has not imposed sanctions following its previous calls. India’s foreign ministry described USCIRF as presenting a “distorted and selective” picture of the country based on “questionable sources and ideological narratives.”
The USCIRF March 2026 annual report also recommended designating India as a “Country of Particular Concern” — a designation India has previously rejected.
An advisory body calling for visa revocation while the person in question is already on American soil. That is the weight of a recommendation with no enforcement mechanism. Check out our previous coverage of India-US relations on The Trusted Times.
