Transnational Repression in North America: Sikh community

Background and Context

On September 18, 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canadian intelligence agencies were “pursuing credible allegations of a potential link” between the government of India and the June 2023 murder of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Then, on November 29, 2023, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment detailing charges against an Indian national who allegedly collaborated with a representative of the government of India to plan at least one assassination of a Sikh American; per the indictment, the case was connected to the alleged assassination of Nijjar, and at least three more similar plots were in the works. Further reporting from the Washington Post confirmed that an officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the foreign intelligence agency of India, was the representative of the Indian government behind the plot—and that more senior RAW officers and other individuals in Prime Minister Modi’s government likely knew about the plans to assassinate Sikhs abroad.

Per the FBI, “transnational repression” refers to when foreign governments stalk, intimidate, or assault people in the United States. The term became extremely relevant to the Sikh American community beginning in September 2023, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his country’s intelligence services were investigating a “credible link” between the Indian government and the June 2023 alleged assassination of a Canadian Sikh activist in Canada. Then, in November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging an Indian national with conspiring with a representative of the government of India to pay a hitman to assassinate another Sikh activist, this one an American living in New York.

Given additional warnings and threats outlined in public reporting and confirmed by agencies like the FBI, it is increasingly clear that transnational repression is a direct threat to the civil rights and safety of Sikhs throughout North America. What is the historical context behind this surge in transnational repression? What work is being undertaken by the Sikh Coalition to counter this threat? And what role can funders with interests and experience in public safety, community-based advocacy, and more play in furthering this local, national, and international conversation?

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