Petition in US court to designate RSS as terror group

A Sikh rights group has filed a lawsuit asking a federal court in New York to designate Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a "foreign terrorist organisation".

The federal court in the Southern District of New York issued a summons for US Secretary of State John Kerry to respond to the suit within 60 days.

Sikhs for Justice in the declaratory lawsuit asked the court to designate the RSS as a foreign terrorist organisation, accusing it of "believing in and practicing a fascist ideology and running a passionate, vicious and violent campaign to turn India into a "Hindu" nation with a homogeneous religious and cultural identity".

The SFJ said the RSS is making headlines for its campaign “the home coming to forcibly convert Christians and Muslims to Hindus."

The declaratory lawsuit requests the court that "RSS along with its affiliates and subsidiaries be designated as a foreign terrorist organisation...         and designate RSS as a specially designated global terrorist entity”.

Accusing the RSS of targeting minorities, the petition alleged the involvement of the Sangh in the "demolition of Babri Masjid", "instigating" army operation in the Golden Temple, "burning of churches and rape of Christian nuns" in 2008 and the Gujarat riots in 2002.

Image: A file picture of a national RSS camp

• Why the RSS is not untouchable