Pakistan calls on UNSC to ban RSS, terms it ‘violent extremist group’

File image: The Pakistani Ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, gives a a Right of Reply speech from the floor of the 58th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2003. (Image: Reuters/Chip East)

Pakistan has proposed an action plan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to tackle what it calls “violent extremist supremacist groups”, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), claiming the organisation poses a “clear and present danger” to international peace and security.

“These violent extremist supremacist groups pose a clear and present danger to regional and international peace and security,” government-operated news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) as telling the panel. The 15-member council had convened on January 12 to review global cooperation in combating terrorism.

“They (the extremist outfits) must be outlawed by the Security Council like other terrorist groups,” Akram said in his statement. “Such violent racist and extremist terrorism will inevitably breed counter-violence and validate the dystopian narrative of terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda”.

The Pakistani envoy to the UN claimed that the “Hindutva” ideology, practiced by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parent body the RSS, posed an existential threat to Indian Muslims. APP cited Akram as further claiming that the Delhi riot of 2020 was a manifestation of that ideology. “International observers have warned against potential genocide in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and against India’s Muslims,” Akram was quoted as saying.

The Pakistani envoy also sought expansion of the mandate of the 1267 Sanctions Committee to include organisations like the RSS.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the news report.

This is not the first time Pakistan has claimed that it faces a threat from groups in India. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly asked the international community to take note of what he calls BJP's "racist" ideology. Khan has also alleged that the saffron party’s ideology is inspired by the Nazis.