New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Tuesday, August 25, said he does not support the planned Madison Square Garden event where Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora, but said he was unsure whether the city had the authority to cancel a private event.
Bhagwat is scheduled to address around 5,000 people at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, August 29, as part of the RSS’s centenary-year global outreach programme. He arrived in the United States on Tuesday and is also expected to participate in the Universal Oneness programme during his stay in New York.
Mamdani said at a news conference, “I don't support the rally, but I don't know if the city has any jurisdiction on cancelling a private event.” His remarks came in response to questions about the RSS, the planned Madison Square Garden event and protests against Bhagwat’s appearance.
Mamdani, who is the first Indian-American mayor in New York City’s history, also referred to his family background while explaining his opposition to the event. He said, “I also stand here as the first Indian-American Mayor in our city's history, and my mother's family is all still in India.”
He said the vision of India he had learnt from his family was that of a society that embraced people from different backgrounds.
Mamdani described that vision as “a pluralistic society, of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person who was from India”.
He went on to criticise what he described as the rise of an exclusionary political movement. Mamdani said, “it has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country”. He said he was therefore opposed to the movement both as an Indian-American and as the mayor of a city that, he said, believes in the inclusion of people irrespective of their identity.
He said, “I find myself in deep opposition to, not only as an Indian-American but also as the Mayor of a city that believes deeply in the belonging of each and every person, no matter their colour, their creed, their religion, their faith, wherever they're from.”
The planned event has also drawn opposition from several interfaith and civil rights organisations in New York. Groups including Hindus for Human Rights, the Indian American Muslim Council and the Interfaith Centre of New York held a press conference outside New York City Hall and urged Madison Square Garden to cancel Bhagwat’s appearance.
The event, titled the Universal Oneness Celebration, is being organised by AHEAD Forum, which is hosting Bhagwat in New York. The organisers said the programme would carry the message “The world is one family” and called for people to look beyond divisions, recognise common bonds and promote mutual respect, harmony and oneness.
Bhagwat’s visit to the US forms part of the RSS’s centenary-year global outreach programme, which also includes stops in Canada and the United Kingdom.