By Iqbal Jassat
Human rights organizations, international legal scholars, and anti-racism advocates have strongly condemned both Hindutva and Zionism, classifying them as repressive, discriminatory, and structurally racist ideologies.
The upcoming visit of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat to New York has triggered widespread international protests. While organizers frame his appearance as a celebration of unity, civil society groups view it as a legitimization of an exclusionary ideology.
This moment serves as a critical reminder for it brings into sharp focus the global threat posed by the RSS and its founding philosophy of Hindutva.
Founded in 1925, the RSS is a right-wing, paramilitary organization modeled historically on European fascist movements. Its core ideology, Hindutva, seeks to transform India from a secular democracy into an ethno-nationalist Hindu state. Critics argue that this vision fundamentally reduces religious minorities—particularly Muslims and Christians—to second-class citizens.
For organizations committed to human rights and global justice, the RSS is not merely a cultural group, but an extremist apparatus responsible for systemic violence, state capture, and the erosion of democratic institutions.
From a global perspective, the mainstreaming of the RSS mirrors the rise of far-right, Islamophobic movements worldwide.
Under the political wing of the RSS—the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—India has witnessed a sharp increase in hate speech, state-sanctioned demolitions of minority property, and vigilante violence.
Human rights monitors, including the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), have frequently sounded the alarm over these developments. They have called for targeted sanctions against RSS leadership and the revocation of visas for figures like Bhagwat.
Allowing the RSS to use international platforms to launder its image under the guise of cultural pride is dangerous. The global community must look beyond the public relations veneer and confront the documented harm caused by Hindutva nationalism.
Combatting the spread of this ideology is essential to protecting pluralism, human dignity, and international human rights.
Scholars, political analysts, and human rights organizations frequently examine the historical and ideological parallels between Hindutva and Zionism.
Scholars point to the repressive occupation of Jammu & Kashmir and the Palestinian Territories as primary examples of policy convergence.
Following the Indian government’s 2019 revocation of Article 370—which stripped Kashmir of its special autonomous status—critics noted that new domicile and land laws closely mirrored Israeli settlement strategies used to alter demographics in the West Bank.
This ideological affinity is reinforced by a lucrative defense relationship. India has become the world’s largest importer of Israeli military hardware, adopting security tactics, drone technology, and surveillance systems originally developed and tested by Israel.
Both ideologies rely on altering demographics to maintain political dominance. In India, this is seen through controversial citizenship laws (like the CAA-NRC) and changing land laws in regions like Kashmir.
In Israel, it is maintained through the Denial of the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees alongside laws that prioritize Jewish demographic dominance.
And both regimes heavily criminalize human rights defenders, journalists, and activists who challenge state ideology, often using sweeping anti-terror legislation to silence critics and label peaceful opposition as a security threat.
Confronting this global rise of supremacist ideologies requires an unyielding, unified international response. Civil society, human rights organizations, and democratic nations must move past geopolitical convenience and economic self-interest to hold these regimes accountable.
Ultimately, the struggle against Hindutva and Zionism is a defense of universal human dignity.
Iqbal Jassat
Executive Member
Media Review Network
Johannesburg
South Africa