Coalition Condemns Hudson Institute for Platforming Indian Extremist Group Blamed by U.S. Commission for Violence Against Minorities
Washington, DC — April 23, 2026
A coalition of leading civil rights and advocacy organizations today condemned the Hudson Institute for platforming senior leaders of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a foreign organization that a U.S. congressionally-mandated federal panel has explicitly called to be sanctioned for its role in religious persecution of minorities in India.
The coalition said the decision to host RSS leaders at Hudson’s April 23 India Conference raises serious concerns not only about human rights, but also about U.S. national security, given the organization’s deep links to a political ecosystem now under scrutiny for transnational repression activities in North America.
In its March 4, 2026 report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom—a bipartisan body established by Congress—recommended targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for systematic violations of religious freedom in India. The report explicitly called for sanctions against the RSS.
“Hudson Institute is providing a prestigious platform to a foreign organization that a U.S. government body has called to be sanctioned. This raises profound questions about judgment, accountability, and the normalization of extremism in Washington policy circles,” the coalition said.
The coalition further noted that the RSS is the ideological core of a network that has been widely documented as enabling violence and discrimination against Muslims and Christians, and that it is historically linked to the extremist milieu from which emerged Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.
Additionally, the coalition pointed to recent cases of transnational repression involving actors tied to the same political ecosystem.
In February 2026, Nikhil Gupta, an Indian citizen in U.S. custody, pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal case involving a murder-for-hire plot targeting a U.S. citizen, which prosecutors said was directed by an Indian government official.
Canadian authorities have also publicly claimed that the Indian government-linked operatives have carried out killings, arson and extortion in that country.
“At a time when credible allegations of state-linked violence have extended beyond national borders, platforms like Hudson must exercise far greater responsibility in whom they choose to legitimize,” the coalition said.
The coalition emphasized that think tanks such as the Hudson Institute play a significant role in shaping U.S. foreign policy discourse, informing lawmakers, and influencing public understanding of global issues. Providing a platform to actors associated with documented patterns of rights violations and emerging national security concerns risks undermining those very policy objectives.
The coalition called on the Hudson Institute to reconsider its decision and urged policymakers, media, and civil society leaders to critically examine the implications of engaging with organizations and individuals linked to religious persecution and transnational repression.
Signatories
- Indian American Muslim Council
- Hindus for Human Rights
- The Sikh Coalition
- Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
- Dalit Solidarity Forum
- Save America From Hindutva
- The Religious Nationalisms Project
- No Hindutva Maryland
- Equitas Forum USA
