New York, Aug 2026 : New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has voiced opposition to an upcoming event featuring Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat at Madison Square Garden, but said the city may not have the legal authority to cancel a privately organised gathering.
“I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction on canceling a private event,” Mamdani told reporters on Tuesday.
His remarks came as a coalition of 61 civil rights, faith-based, community and advocacy organisations called on Madison Square Garden to cancel the August 29 event featuring Bhagwat.
Mamdani said he opposed political or social movements based on what he described as an exclusionary vision of national identity. He also referred to his Indian-American background and the values he said were passed on to him by his family.
“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,” Mamdani said.
He said the understanding of India he inherited from his family was that of a pluralistic and secular republic in which every person belonging to the country had a place.
“The vision of India that I was taught by my family ... was of a pluralistic society of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person who was from India,” he said.
Mamdani added that he found the emergence of movements based on an exclusionary approach deeply troubling.
“It has been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country, frankly,” he said.
The mayor said he was “in deep opposition” to such an ideology, both as an Indian American and as the leader of a city known for its cultural and religious diversity.
The campaign against the event gained support from several political leaders and representatives of different religious and community groups. Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 10th Congressional District, City Council Member Shahana Hanif, and representatives from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Dalit and Christian communities attended a news conference outside New York City Hall.
Lander referred to Madison Square Garden’s history, including its hosting of a German American Bund rally in 1939, and argued that the venue should not host Bhagwat’s event.
“It should not host this one,” Lander said.
Hanif said sections of New York’s South Asian communities had experienced what she described as the effects of ideology and violence associated with the RSS.
Amin Zama of the Indian American Muslim Council, meanwhile, stressed that the campaign was aimed at opposing an ideology rather than Hinduism or Hindus.
“Our message today is not against Hindus,” he said, arguing that the focus was on an ideology that, according to the campaigners, seeks to link citizenship and national belonging to religious identity.
Bhagwat is scheduled to address the Universal Oneness Celebration at Madison Square Garden on August 29. Organisers have described the gathering as a major Hindu-American community event centred on unity, civic responsibility, mutual respect and the principle of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, or “The World Is One Family.”
With Mamdani indicating that the city may lack jurisdiction over a private event, the decision on whether the programme proceeds is expected to remain primarily with the venue and organisers.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
