By Team
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Tuesday said that he does not support an upcoming Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event at Madison Square Garden, but he does not know if the city is authorised to cancel a “private” programme.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora at the event on August 29.
“I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction on canceling a private event,” Mamdani said during a press meet hours after Bhagwat landed in New York as part of the RSS’s centenary-year global outreach programme, which also includes his visit to Canada and the UK.
Bhagwat is expected to participate in the Universal Oneness programme and address around 5,000 people at the iconic Madison Square Garden (MSG) on Saturday.
Responding to a query on the RSS event, Mamdani said growing up with a vision of India that was of a “pluralistic society”, of a “secular republic”, that believed in the “belonging” of every person who was from India, “it has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country”.
“So it is one that 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…” he added.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com.
