Geeta Sikand
VP Communications, Americans4Hindus
Recently, Governor Newsom called his party ‘toxic’ and out of touch” in a refreshing and informative podcast (LA Times, March 30th, 2025). I appreciate what Newsom is trying to do. His aim is to rebrand the left. “Because our party’s getting our ass kicked. Because the Democratic Party brand is ‘toxic’ and ‘out of touch’.
Because people don’t think we make any damn sense. They think we make noise. They don’t think we have their values. You fill in the generic them. They think we’re elite. We talk down to people and we talk past people. They think we just think we’re smarter than other people, that we’re so judgmental and full of ourselves,” said Governor Newsom.
Despite Newsom’s willingness to ask open-ended questions, he omitted something I wish he hadn’t. He forgot to mention the:
1) Gas lighting of Hindus (2023 SB 403),
2) chiding and shunning of Hindus (2020 Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference), and
3) bashing of Hindus (AB 3027, SB 509) by the extreme left progressives within the Democratic Party.
“Due to our opposition to SB 509, we the elected Hindu delegates in the Democratic Party are facing intimidation in the social media by Hinduphobic elements within the party,” said Satish Chandra Vale, an elected Hindu American Delegate in the California Democratic Party and the National Convenor of Americans4Hindus (A4H).
The Hindu delegates cited the detrimental impact of SB 509 on society such as safeguarding our right to free speech, and compromised social harmony. Satish Chandra Vale and the other four Hindu delegates felt helpless & dejected at the leftist progressive Democrats for gas lighting their own Party’s delegates. This dissent from the party’s mainstream narrative led to the bludgeoning backlash and bullying from certain “anti-Hindu Elements” within the Democratic Party.
Americans4Hindus (A4H), a bipartisan political organization founded by Dr Romesh Japra that engages in political activism and public policy education has strongly opposed California’s SB 509 – a transnational repression bill – warning that its vague framing and lack of transparency will lead to the unfair targeting of Hindus and Indian Americans. Currently SB 509 has passed through the Public Safety Committee and the Government Organization Committee.
While the California Senate was debating the bill, SB 509, several members of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a terrorist organization advocating the creation of Khalistan, lined up outside to show their support for the legislation, according to a report in AsAmNews, a San Francisco-based news portal focusing on Asian American and South Asian Communities. Khalistan leader Pannun threatens attacks on Hindu temples, including Ayodhya. Indian-American Hindus and Sikhs who oppose the bill argued that it risks indoctrinating local police with dual loyalty tropes, thus painting diaspora community members as being “proxies” of foreign governments.
“My uncle was shot to death in 1984 by the same supporters who support the ideology of this bill,” I (Author Geeta Sikand) broke down while testifying at the Hearing. FULL HEARING: California’s SB 509 Transnational Repression bill discussed before State Senate panel
“We fear that the supporters of the Khalistan movement could be indirectly protected under SB 509’s definitions.”
“This bill adds enormous trauma and fear for the Hindu and Indian community,” said Dr Romesh Japra, Chair of A4H. “At a time when our temples and cultural centers are under attack, the last thing our communities need is another reason to feel watched, misjudged, and unsafe.”
Samir Kalra, Managing Director, Hindu American Foundation, and a Civil Rights Attorney, vowed to oppose the bill. “SB 509 lacks the adequate guardrails necessary to prevent OES (Office of Emergency Services) training on transnational repression from being politicized,” Kalra testified at the Governmental Organization Committee Hearing on April 8th 2025. “This bill would label anyone who criticizes or uses digital technology to track the activities of terrorists or separatist movements as being radicalized by state-sponsored propaganda”.
Senator Ann Caballero, Assemblymember Jasmit Bains and Assemblymember Soria have introduced SB 509, which would allocate state funds to train local law enforcement on transnational repression. Last year’s version (AB 3027) makes it clear who the bill is intended to target—
1) HINDU CALIFORNIANS OF INDIAN ORIGIN AS A SUSPECT CLASS!
SB 509 is being sponsored by organizations with a track record of anti-Hindu, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-India hate, and the bill contains no information on who or how training will be conducted.
2) HINDU CALIFORNIANS OF INDIAN ORIGIN CANNOT FEEL SAFE if our local law enforcement has been trained to be suspicious of us for no other reason than our faith and/or national origin.
Act Now! https://bit.ly/notosb509/
We need YOU to contact your California State Legislators to OPPOSE SB 509! *Please note: this Action Alert is limited to residents of California only*
Sudha Jagannathan, a board member of CoHNA (Coalition of Hindus of North America), spoke to the California Senate Standing Committee on Governmental Organization, which cleared the bill for the next phase. Sudha Jagannathan also expressed concern about who gets to provide the training. “California police officers should receive training on Hindu perspectives and issues from authentic Hindu organizations specializing in Hindu culture. A discrepancy in training providers could have serious repercussions on specific diaspora groups, attributed to the political weaponization against the Hindu community.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON SB 509 from Hindu American Foundation
| SB 509 Fact Sheet |
Don’t let activist groups indoctrinate California’s Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) with their anti-Hindu, anti-India, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israel hate!
But it’s not enough! It’s time for the leadership of the California Democratic Party to engage in civil discussions with leading American Hindu organizations like Americans4Hindus, Hindu American Foundation, Coalition of Hindus of North America HinduACTion and HinduPACT. A conversation with American Hindus is long overdue to establish a viable relationship with Hindus in CA. That’s the path forward.
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