Transnational Repression Reporting Act precedes Modi US tour protests

The House of Representatives electee of California ushered in a “bipartisan Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024” this week, based on the attempted assassination of a New York based Sikh activist in 2023.

Congressman Adam Schiff introduced the bill (19.09.24) in Capitol Hill (Washington, DC) whilst referencing India’s attempted assassination of New York lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as reason for the need for the act, which ensures reports on transnational repression will be heard by Congress.

A range of Sikh community representatives from organizations including The Sikh Coalition, SALDEF, Sikh Assembly of America and Human Rights Watch attended the hearing as official supporters of the bill.

“The Transnational Repression Reporting Act is a major step forward in protecting the freedom of speech and civil rights of Americans,” said Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF). “When foreign governments infringe upon American sovereignty, there must be full transparency around the violation for the safety of our communities. Through this bill, Congress sends a strong message to both allies and adversaries that violating the constitutional rights of Americans will not be tolerated. SALDEF and the Sikh American community thank Congressman Schiff for his leadership in protecting the rights of all Americans.”

“We are deeply grateful to Congressman Schiff for proposing this legislation and taking the continuing threat of all transnational repression, including India’s recent targeting of Sikhs, seriously. It is essential for our national security that the United States is not seen abiding such egregious violations of democratic values or international norms–including India’s harassing, harming, and plotting to kill U.S.-based Sikhs–without consequence. We hope that others in congress will join Congressman Schiff to support this significant step forward,” said Harman Singh, Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition.

“India must be made accountable for transnational repression on Sikhs and this bill helps combat the oppression and intimidation Sikhs are facing in America,” said Swaranjit Singh Khalsa, City Council Member from Norwich, Connecticut and one of the Directors of Sikh Assembly of America.

“The California Sikh community applauds the steps taken by the U.S. Congress to safeguard fundamental rights of all American citizens. Transnational repression has gone on for far too long,” said the California Sikh Youth Alliance.

See Schiff’s full statement on the bill here.

Ironically, the bill preceded the arrival of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the USA, where the formerly banned BJP Party lead was met with vehement protests from a range of groups, including Sikh Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) supporters, gathered from across the east coast. The group not only demonstrated outside his stadium event at the Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, but they even followed Modi to his stay at the Hotel Lotte NY Palace.

The Religion News Service reported:

Signs with “MODI=HITLER, RSS=KKK,” referring to the Hindu nationalist paramilitary group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh seen as formative to Modi’s rise, and “Hindu Dharma is Justice for All,” could be seen among the crowd.

Across a police-installed barricade, a separate protest of almost 300 Sikhs advocated for the creation of Khalistan, a would-be break-away Sikh nation-state in India. There, some took turns using shoes to hit a life-size effigy of Modi. Some held signs with the slogan “Modi: Face of Hindu Terror.” The Modi government has killed several Sikh and Kashmiri separatist activists, whom they label terrorists and extremists, including fatally shooting a Sikh activist in Canada and attempting to assassinate a Sikh activist, an American citizen, in the U.S.

Pannun, the American Sikh central to the ongoing geopolitical fallout between Sikhs and India, issued a summons for India in the US district court for southern New York last week, based on both the attempt on his life and also India’s assassination of Canadian Sikh leader Shaheed (Sikh martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. The attempt to sue the nation often ironically called “the world’s biggest democracy” is based on the “Murder for hire plot” India ran across North America last year.

Despite the legislative moves which support Sikh attempts to counter India’s transnational repression, many may be left disappointed that the “murder for hire plot” has not yet been referenced amid Modi’s meetings with senior US officials, nor has he faced any pressure on the numerous human rights abuses within India as the Democratic Party cosy up to India’s leader, who was once banned from entering the USA.

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