FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@sikhcoalition.org
Sikh Coalition Welcomes Charges for Indian Government Employee in Transnational Repression Case, Calls for Further “Accountability and Deterrence”
October 17, 2024 (Washington, DC) — Today, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a second indictment related to the 2023 plot to assassinate U.S.-based Sikhs.
In this latest indictment, Vikash Yadav—who “was employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing”—is alleged to have “directed” the plot to assassinate a specific U.S.-based Sikh individual. Per the indictment, Yadav recruited Nikhil Gupta, an alleged arms and narcotics trafficker and the subject of the first unsealed indictment, and told him to hire a hitman to target this individual.
“The indictment of an employee of the government of India puts all doubt to rest: the Government of India is engaged in transnational repression against the U.S.-based Sikh community, including attempts to kill Sikhs on U.S. soil,” said Harman Singh, Sikh Coalition Executive Director. “We welcome the indictment of this individual as a step towards better protecting Sikh lives and Sikh civil rights. In the meantime, we will also continue to press the U.S. government to take decisive action against ‘others’ involved, as alluded to in the indictment.”
Language in the indictment further validates the concern that Yadav and Gupta had “so many targets” for potential transnational repression within the United States. This news must be viewed in the context of Canada’s announcement earlier this week that India’s top diplomats in their country were involved in efforts to surveil, coerce, and target via criminal actors Canadian Sikhs. It is also worth noting that the Washington Post, whose reporting previously identified Yadav by name, has also alleged that more senior members of the Indian government—including individuals in Prime Minister Modi’s inner circle—were aware of, involved in, and/or authorized this plot.
“On the heels of this indictment and the shocking revelations out of Canada earlier this week, now is the time to press forward towards both accountability and deterrence,” continued Singh. “The Biden Administration must publicly commit to conducting its own investigation into India’s transnational repression against the Sikh community, lest there are more charges or sanctions to be brought against more senior individuals. In the meantime, Congress can take action now on multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation—including the Transnational Repression Policy Act and Transnational Repression Reporting Act—to better prepare our government to respond to transnational repression no matter the country of origin or community under threat.”
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For more than 20 years, the Sikh Coalition—the largest SIkh civil rights organization in the United States—has fought to defend and expand Sikh civil rights through our legal, advocacy, community development, education, and media engagement work. For more about our work on transnational repression, please read our July 2024 report, “So Many Targets,” and visit our website.
