Below are some of the ways that you can take action to honor the life and legacy of Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra as discussed in the Sikh Coalition’s August 2025 teach-in “Challenging the Darkness.”

Missed the teach-in? Watch it here.

Local Proclamation

The Sikh Coalition has created an advocacy toolkit to help anyone, regardless of your experience with advocacy or civic engagement, propose a local proclamation or resolution to honor Bhai Khalra at the local level. Sangat members have used these kinds of proclamations to commemorate the Sikh Genocide or mark Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month in states, cities, and school districts across the country. Click the link to see the draft proclamation language and learn more about how to approach your local government officials.

Organizational Letter

For six years, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. government—specifically, the Secretary of State—to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern” for religious freedom. This recommendation has been made on the basis of both India’s conduct at home and its transnational repression against the Sikh community abroad. A CPC designation is important because it allows for specific types of impactful sanctions against perpetrator countries, but so far, no Secretary of State across Democratic or Republican administrations has taken this essential step. 

If you represent any kind of civil society, interfaith, or civil rights organization, join our organizational letter urging Secretary Rubio to designate India as a CPC. Doing so would give the U.S. government and impacted communities another critical tool to push back against Indian transnational repression.

California Advocacy

For the past several months, the Sikh Coalition has been working closely with state legislators and allied organizations from the Sikh, Hindu, and other communities in support of SB 509. This legislation would define transnational repression in California and direct the California Office of Emergency Services, working in consultation with the professionals at the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, to create a “transnational repression recognition and response” training for state and local law enforcement agencies. 

SB 509 has now passed out of the California Senate and Assembly. If you are based in California, visit our blog to learn how to send an email and place a phone call to Gov. Gavin Newsom encouraging him to sign this legislation. Ultimately, SB 509 is a common-sense measure to better protect all of California’s communities—not just Sikhs—from transnational repression regardless of where in the world it originates.

Additional Resources