The Congress on Jattvibeday questioned Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s pitch for Hindu-Muslim unity in the United States, asking why the organisation that had advocated a “Hindu Rashtra” for decades was talking of religious inclusivity abroad, and whether its language changed with the audience.Pointing to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh and American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD), Karnataka minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge has also sought scrutiny of the RSS’s overseas network, diaspora mobilisation and funding.Congress leader Rashid Alvi said Bhagwat’s remarks in New York raised a question — why travel to the US to say there was no place for hostility between Hindus and Muslims, if there was no problem between the two communities back home?“The first question is: why is there a need to go to America to say this? If there is no issue between Hindus and Muslims within India, then what is the sudden need to go there and speak about it? This implies that a problem does exist,” Alvi said.Speaking at the ‘One World One Humanity’ event in New York on Saturday, Bhagwat said a Hindu who believed that Muslims should have no place in India could no longer call himself a Hindu.“If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu,” the RSS chief said. He said Hinduism recognised different paths leading to the same goal and believed in the dignity of every human being.Alvi sought to contrast those remarks with the RSS’s politics in India. He accused the organisation of being “anti-Muslim” and questioned whether Bhagwat was unaware of controversial statements made against Muslims by political leaders in the country.Priyank also questioned the “transformation in the RSS’s language” once it moved outside India.“For 100 years, this unregistered organisation has propagated and continues to propagate the idea of a Hindu Rashtra in India. Yet, in America, Mohan Bhagwat says: ‘If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu’ … Quite a transformation in language when the audience changes,” Priyank said.Kharge also sought scrutiny of the RSS’s overseas network, diaspora mobilisation and funding, pointing to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh and American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue (AHEAD).He alleged that behind the carefully packaged message of “Universal Oneness” were questions about the RSS ecosystem and its mobilisation among the Indian diaspora.“Why does the language of ‘Hindu Rashtra’ at home become the language of inclusivity and interfaith harmony abroad?” he asked.He ended with a call for scrutiny of the organisation’s finances: “Follow the network. Follow the fundraising. Follow the money. This is why this organisation needs to be registered.”