RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat defends UK tour amid calls for condemnation

Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, reached London on September 2 as the last leg of a three-city outreach tour that began in New York and continued in Toronto. Several civil-rights organisations, including Hindus for Human Rights UK, sent an open letter to Mayor Sadiq Khan urging him to condemn the trip, noting that New York’s mayor had previously done so. Labour Party MP Nadia Whittome raised a written question in Parliament asking whether the Home Office was permitting hate preachers and extremists to enter the UK.

At a press briefing, RSS media head Sunil Ambekar said the group is in London to promote peace, integration and oneness, and welcomed debate with anyone willing to engage. He rejected claims that the RSS was involved in the 2022 Leicester riots, calling them a domestic UK issue, and argued that misconceptions about Hindutva and Bharat could be clarified through the visit. A mayoral spokesperson reiterated that the mayor lacks authority to ban speakers and affirmed London’s commitment to diversity.