RSS-Backed Platform To Globalise Bengali Hindus' Issues, London Summit Set For September

Published 26 June 2026 · india

RSS-Backed Platform To Globalise Bengali Hindus' Issues, London Summit Set For September Reported By, Last Updated: June 26, 2026, 14:05 IST Global Bengali Hindu Platform

RSS-Backed Platform To Globalise Bengali Hindus' Issues, London Summit Set For September Reported By, Last Updated: June 26, 2026, 14:05 IST Global Bengali Hindu Platform, with its core members in India, UK and US, plans to also lend weight to Bangladeshi Hindus who are facing persecution Rapid Read In the first year, the summit will have five topics of discussion---policy, economics, spirituality, women and youth and media. (News18) A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed organisation has put together a platform with an intent to create a “global ecosystem" for Hindus with a special focus on Bengali Hindus. The platform’s intent is to internationalise the issues plaguing Bengali Hindus and it is all set to host its first international summit—Global Bengali Hindu Conference—this year in London on September 19. As a precursor, an international platform has been floated, named Global Bengali Hindu Platform (GBHP), with their core members in India, United Kingdom, and the United States to begin with. In the first year, the summit will have five topics of discussion—policy, economics, spirituality, women and youth and media. “For instance, in economics, we will be discussing the role of wealth creators and their contribution for Hindu causes. When I say wealth creators, I mean both affluent diaspora giving back to the community or businessmen stepping up. We have many Marwari and Gujrati businessmen working in West Bengal for generations who have already approached us with their intent to contribute," London-based Bikram Banerjee, UK Coordinator of GBHP, tells News18.

Banerjee adds that for spirituality, the focus will be on revival of old shrines. But, while the agenda is on what the organisation calls “Hindu causes", its focus remains Bengali Hindus. What’s interesting is that the organisation is not seeing West Bengal in isolation. On one hand, they intend to fast-track what they call “Hindu revivalism" in Bengal and on other, they plan to lend their weight to Bangladeshi Hindus who are facing persecution. “We cannot think of speaking for Bengali Hindus, if we do not speak for Bangladeshi Hindus. Today, they are less than 7 per cent in Bangladesh. Demography is real. A nationalist government on this side of the border doesn’t mean we can rest. The work is cut out for us," says Banerjee. Banerjee is also UK’s ruling Labour Party Councillor from Hampshire. He had also led a delegation to the British deputy prime minister and Secretary of Justice over the persecution faced by Bangladeshi Hindus. After this summit, he says, he and his colleagues will try to underscore the narrative that the Tarique Rahman government in Bangladesh has been trying to conceal since the election landslide. Next year’s summit venue is likely to be Kolkata and the year following that could be somewhere in Australlia, says Banerjee. Recently, the platform held an event in Kolkata that was attended by Bengal BJP leader Shishir Bajoria, who is associated with the BJP’s international department overseeing the United Kingdom, Europe and Bangladesh.