The Fremont Gurdwara Sahib, which serves 5,000 Sikh worshippers each week and is considered a central part of the global Sikh community, has asked the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to determine whether the HAF should be required to register as an agent of India, according to a report in The Guardian.
The Gurdwara believes the group should be transparent about its activities, including any interactions with US lawmakers and connections to the Indian government.
A spokesperson for the Gurdwara wrote in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi that the HAF has facilitated meetings between foreign officials and US lawmakers, hosted foreign officials at its events, and publicly supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on both domestic and international matters.
The HAF denied the accusations, insisting that it is a non-partisan charity with no ties to any foreign government or political group.
The foundation also claimed that supporters of the Khalistan movement, which seeks an independent Sikh state, have been behind a “coordinated campaign” against the HAF.
“We are open to meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other security officials to discuss these false and harmful allegations,” the HAF stated.
These claims come amid ongoing tensions between Sikhs pushing for an independent state and the Indian government. In recent years, there have been allegations that the Indian government has targeted Sikhs abroad, particularly after the 2023 assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian advocate for Khalistan.
The Canadian government has said it believes Indian agents were involved in Nijjar’s death.
Read more: Canada expels top Indian envoys in Sikh separatist killing row
In the US, prosecutors have also alleged that an Indian agent was behind an attempt to kill a US-based Sikh activist.
A recent investigation by Al Jazeera highlighted that the HAF, initially established to represent the Hindu community in the US, has increasingly supported the Indian government since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.
The group is accused of stepping up its political activities in favour of Modi’s policies.
Also read: Biden raised issue of Canadian Sikh’s murder with Modi at G20, FT reports
While the HAF has not been accused of supporting violence against Sikhs, the Gurdwara’s letter calls for the HAF’s actions to be investigated under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
If the DoJ determines that the HAF is acting on behalf of the Indian government, it would be required to disclose details of its activities, including any financial ties to India.
The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
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What is the Khalistan movement?
It wants an independent Sikh state carved out of India and dates back to India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947 when the idea was pushed forward in negotiations preceding the partition of the Punjab region between the two new countries.
The Sikh religion was founded in Punjab in the late 15th century and currently has about 25 million followers worldwide. Sikhs form a majority of Punjab’s population but are a minority in India, comprising 2% of its population of 1.4 billion.
Sikh separatists demand that their homeland Khalistan, meaning “the land of the pure”, be created out of Punjab.
The demand has resurfaced many times, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s which paralysed Punjab for over a decade.
A few months later, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi. The army launched operations in 1986 and 1988 to flush out Sikh militants from Punjab.
Sikh militants were also blamed for the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India in which all 329 people on board were killed off the Irish coast.
The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and Punjab still bears the scars of that violence.