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New Delhi: Why is the chief coordinator of Mohan Bhagwat’s US trip, a full-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak, listed as a “yoga instructor” in his official documents? And why are the outfits hosting the RSS sarsanghchalak at a mega event in New York being described as mere ‘local organisations’? As the Bhagwat prepares to embark on his overseas trip next week for the organisation’s outreach in its centenary year, these discrepancies have raised abundant questions about the identities and affiliations of the people behind his visit – and why their links to the RSS appear to have been obscured.

A report by anti-supremacy platform Savera has revealed that the reality of the outreach programme is far more “clandestine”, and those leading the operation include long-standing RSS agents, hiding behind dubious titles.

Titled ‘Fibs, Fronts & Fixers’, it is the first part of Savera’s series on the hidden machinery behind Bhagwat’s overseas visit, which is set to begin with the US on August 25.

The report comes at a time when the opposition parties have been accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of giving a free pass to the RSS while seeking stricter legislations against other NGOs receiving foreign funds. 

A mysterious ‘independent’ organisation

While making the announcement, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh (national publicity and media head) Sunil Ambekar had said on X that the three-nation tour – to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom – was at the invitation of local organisations, and it is just “a coincidence” that this trip is taking place in the centenary year of the RSS’s founding.

The “local organisations” that Ambekar mentioned while announcing Bhagwat’s tour include one called the American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD) Forum, incorporated in........

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