Dear Supporter Ji,
For the past year, the Sikh Coalition has engaged in a body of work around transnational repression, or threats from foreign governments to the civil rights and lives of U.S.-based individuals. Specifically, we remain concerned about threats from the Indian government against Sikhs in the United States, and narratives that seek to paint Sikhs as “terrorists” or “extremists.” Today, we are looking back on the events that have informed that work, and looking ahead to what more must be done to keep our sangats safe.
One year ago, Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot to death in his car outside of a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. His assailants, who riddled his body with 34 bullets, fled the scene on foot and escaped in a getaway car—all details suggesting not just a premeditated murder, but a planned assassination. Multiple individuals have since been arrested in Canada and will stand trial for Nijjar’s death. The implications for this assassination on U.S. foreign policy were not immediately obvious, but in September of 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an investigation into “credible allegations of a potential link” between Nijjar’s death and the government of India. Since then, evidence has only mounted that Indian transnational repression poses a serious danger to Sikhs in the diaspora—not just in Canada, but in the United States as well.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, India aspired to carry out multiple similar assassinations in our country and against members of the Sikh community. An unsealed indictment from November 2023 revealed that an agent of the Indian government directed a known weapons and narcotics trafficker to contract out the murder of a Sikh activist in New York, and that other such plots—”so many targets,” in the words of the trafficker—were in the works. From text messages cited in the indictment, it is clear that the conspirators were coordinating around both Mr. Nijjar’s assassination and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States. Subsequent reporting uncovered that the unnamed Indian government official behind this scheme was an officer of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)—and that more senior Indian officials, up to and including Mr. Modi’s national security advisor, were likely aware of the plans.
News outlets have also corroborated that U.S.-based Sikhs from New York to California had been warned of threats on their life by federal law enforcement officials, just as Mr. Nijjar was before his death. And while these assassination plots are the most egregious examples of Indian transnational repression, they are far from the only ones: Sikhs in the United States have been threatened online and in person, stalked and surveilled, intimidated at their gurdwaras, and more. This is to say nothing of broader efforts by the Indian government to chill dissent in other ways, including by threats to expatriates’ families back in India.
It is in the context of all of these events that the Sikh Coalition began to engage our government about the threat of transnational repression. Conventional wisdom in Washington considers this the behavior of more traditional rivals and adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran; perhaps as a result, the Biden Administration and Congress have been slow to act. Other countries have suspended trade talks with India or expelled RAW agents in response to India’s behavior, but in terms of public-facing consequences, the U.S. government has merely indicted a single individual (the abovementioned trafficker, who is not employed by the Indian government) while standing by as India’s self-investigation marched towards a predictable self-absolution.
The possibilities for a more substantial response are nearly limitless. The White House could make a public show of support for Sikhs and others targeted by India’s undemocratic behavior, as it surely would if any adversary was plotting assassinations on our soil. The State Department could follow the long-running recommendation of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and desigate India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ to enable meaningful sanctions. The DOJ could move to charge culpable Indian government officials in the murder conspiracy. Our intelligence community could learn from, and increase coordination with, Five Eyes allies who have had years of a head start on countering India’s meddling abroad. And Congress could pass any number of bipartisan bills—chief among them the bipartisan Transnational Repression Policy Act—to better equip the federal government to protect Americans from all communities from foreign governments. The Sikh Coalition continues to advocate for these policy prescriptions and more.
Any of these actions would show Sikhs and others targeted by Indian transnational repression that the U.S. government takes their safety seriously. More broadly, it is essential for both our national security and international standing that the United States is not seen abiding such egregious violations of democratic values or international norms. If India can get away with harassing, harming, and plotting to kill U.S.-based persons without consequences, other nations, whether allies or adversaries, will surely be emboldened to do so as well. A year after Mr. Nijjar’s assassination, a robust response—or indeed, any significant response at all—is sorely overdue.
The Sikh Coalition was founded to combat threats against the Sikh community in the United States, and we view our work against transnational repression as integral to that core mission. Our longstanding efforts to provide free legal aid to sangat members who face hate crimes, workplace discrimination, and bullying; advocate at the federal, state, and local levels; get accurate information about Sikhi into schools; and build community power in sangats across the nation all continue. We remain committed to serving the sangat through all of our work, and we thank you for your continued support and partnership as we defend and expand Sikh civil rights.
Chardi Kala,
Harman Singh
Executive Director
The Sikh Coalition