Press Release
WASHINGTON DC — The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has expressed deep concern over California Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to veto SB509, a bill aimed at protecting communities from transnational repression (TNR) from foreign governments, including from far-right authoritarian regimes. The veto was announced despite the bill passing both the California Senate and Assembly with support from a broad coalition of Indian Americans – including Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Dalits, and other communities.
“We are concerned and alarmed to see that Governor Newsom failed to act on concerns raised by Indian Americans – particularly Sikh Americans – regarding well-documented threats of violence and assassination directed against our community,” said IAMC President Mohammed Jawad. “This is a dangerous decision that leaves all Californians, from activists to everyday community members, vulnerable to repression, intimidation, and violence by foreign actors.”
The bill was introduced by Senator Anna Caballero and co-authored by Assembly members Jasmeet Bains and Esmeralda Soria, describing TNR as human rights violations by foreign governments that “stifle dissent and enhance control over exile, activist, emigrant, and diaspora communities”.
These harms include extrajudicial killings, physical assaults, stalking, intimidation, targeted surveillance, and online harassment, and coercion of family members, noted the IAMC arguing the Indian government has used several of these tactics against individuals in the United States and Canada over the past few years, including through the assassination of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023, the attempted assassination of Sikh American activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun that same year, and numerous attempted assassinations of Sikh Americans living in Fremont, CA.
In a report released earlier this year, IAMC documented several testimonies of Kashmiri and Muslim activists whose families have been threatened by Indian authorities. The IAMC report also alleged that Indian missions are being used by the government to perpetrate TNR, serving as the long arm of the government by infiltrating diaspora communities with undercover agents, undermining routine citizenship processes, denying Indian Americans their constitutional rights, and collaborating with US-based hate groups to intimidate minorities within the diaspora.
Despite these well-documented threats, the bill was strongly opposed by Hindu American groups, affiliated with the Hindu supremacist movement in India. These same groups also opposed the passage of another bill vetoed by Newsom in 2023, SB403, which would have banned caste-based discrimination.
“IAMC remains in solidarity with the diverse coalition of Indian Americans who all raised their voices in support of this bill,” said Jawad. “We will continue to advocate alongside our allies for the safety and security of all Americans from transnational repression.”
