New York, USA: A New York based US Federal court has fixed April 24 as the date for holding pre-trial hearing in the lawsuit seeking declaration identifying Hindutva fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a “terrorist organisation”. The lawsuit is moved by a US based human rights and advocacy group named “Sikhs for Justice”. The petitioners have alleged that the RSS was involved in violent acts against religious minorities in India.
US District Judge Laura Swain of the Southern District of New York set the pre-trial hearing for April 24 when issues related to the status of the subject application, subject matter jurisdiction, disputed and undisputed facts and other legalities will be taken up.
‘Sikhs For Justice’ (SFJ) in it’s petition has urged the court to designate RSS as terror group “for believing in and practicing a fascist ideology and for running a passionate, vicious and violent campaign to turn India into a ‘Hindu’ nation with a homogeneous religious and cultural identity.”
SFJ has accused RSS of of targeting religious minorities in India, including instigating the June 1984 attack against the Sikh shrine the Golden Temple, the 1992 demolition of the historical Babri Mosque as well as the 2002 massacre of Muslims in Gujarat.