Saifuddin Maizbhandari’s curious appearance at RSS chief’s New York event

Bangladesh Supreme Party chairman Saifuddin Ahmed Maizbhandari made a curious appearance in New York on August 29.

He joined an international religious gathering at Madison Square Garden where India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat was the guest of honour. 

Photos and video from the event show Maizbhandari meeting Bhagwat and sitting in the front row during the programme.

The event was billed as an interfaith gathering for peace and dialogue. The event had already drawn criticism in New York. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he did not support the gathering featuring RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. 

He called the rise of the RSS-led movement “incredibly troubling” and said he opposed what he described as its “exclusionary vision.” The US Commission on International Religious Freedom had also called for sanctions on RSS members over allegations of religious intolerance and violations of religious freedom.

But Maizbhandari’s presence is notable for another reason. He is not only a religious figure. He is also chairman of the Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP), a controversial political party that took part in Bangladesh’s 2024 parliamentary election, which was boycotted by the main opposition. 

The party was widely criticised as a proxy for the Awami League regime, helping create the appearance of competition and legitimacy around a heavily boycotted election.

The day began with the “One World: One Humanity” faith-leaders summit, convened by the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCRL), where Bhagwat was a guest of honour. Participants then travelled to Madison Square Garden for the “Universal Oneness Celebration”, organised by AHEAD Forum, or American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue, where Bhagwat delivered the keynote address.

AHEAD presents itself as an independent organisation promoting Hindu engagement, interfaith dialogue and social harmony. But international media investigations have raised questions about its links to the wider RSS network. 

The event itself also drew protests outside Madison Square Garden. Several South Asian and human-rights groups demonstrated against Bhagwat and the gathering.

The RSS said 180 religious leaders from 30 countries took part. 

Maizbhandari posted about his participation in the WCRL event but didn’t mention the AHEAD Forum event in his Facebook post. 

“Before asking society to change, we must ask ourselves to change,” he posted on Facebook, adding that people could disagree over religion without turning that disagreement into disrespect or hatred. 

Those words are difficult to separate from the political significance of the man he was sharing the stage with.

Bhagwat leads the RSS, one of India’s most influential Hindu nationalist organisations considered architect of today’s Hindutva politics established on hatred and communal agenda. 

Political agenda?

For Maizbhandari, however, this was not simply a meeting between two religious figures.

He is chairman of BSP, a well-documented kings’ party in Bangladesh. The party was formed shortly before the 2024 parliamentary election and took part in a vote boycotted by the opposition. 

Maizbhandari’s own contest in Chattogram-2 made his political position even more interesting.

He ran against his uncle, Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizbhandari, a longstanding political figure who had been ‘elected’ from the constituency three times with the support of the Awami League-led alliance during the years of controversial elections under Hasina. 

Yet reports during the 2024 campaign said senior Awami League leaders instructed local leaders to support Saifuddin, even though the ruling party had its own candidate in the constituency. Saifuddin lost badly anyway.

Reports also said Saifuddin met then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina shortly before the election.

Nazibul Bashar eventually withdrew from the race.

The New York appearance also comes days after Maizbhandari led a large Jashne Julus gathering in Dhaka on August 26. Questions have been raised over the mobilisation, including allegations that people were brought into the capital from outside Dhaka in large numbers for the religious procession. 

Critics have also questioned whether such religious gatherings of this Awami League ally could be used for political mobilisation at a time of political tension.

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