SACRAMENTO, California—American Sikh PAC has made the difficult decision to withdraw all support for Congressman Ami Bera due to his failure to acknowledge the culpability of the Indian government in the November 1984 genocide of Sikhs. We will never forget those that were raped, tortured and slaughtered at the hands of the police and government officials. As Sikhs, it is our duty to respect their memory and fight for justice on their behalf.We are blessed that a diverse group of elected officials and community leaders disagree with Dr. Bera’s position and have signed a letter of solidarity acknowledging that the Indian government is responsible for the 1984 massacre of Sikhs. Dr. Bera’s decision to look the other way when faced with a genocide is in stark contrast to the consensus position of his colleagues, including Sacramento area congressional representatives Matsui, Garamendi and McNerney as well as state legislators Steinberg, Dickinson and Yamada. In fact, every political and community leader in our region that has addressed this issue disagrees with Dr. Bera. See the following links for documents from all elected officials:
Letter of Solidarity
Congressional Questionnaire
Since Congressman Bera is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee it is not unreasonable to ask him to take a moral stand against the genocide of Sikhs by the Indian government in 1984. He has explained to PAC members that he will not be critical of the Indian government because it will complicate his relationship with the Indian government. Given this failure, we fear that he will also fail when asked to stand up for Americans against those that lobby him on current domestic and foreign policy issues. Further, we are concerned that he is not representing our country’s best interests when he travels to India and when he entertains Indian political officials in our country.
[American Sikh PAC] will continue to work with elected officials that have proven themselves to be supporters of religious freedom and reliable friends of the Sikh community. Although we encourage all Sikhs to engage in civic affairs, we must never compromise our principles for political expediency. [Our Supporters] made it possible for us to build a coalition of congressional representatives, state legislators and community leaders joining together to unequivocally state that the government of India committed a genocide.
American Sikh PAC is a state-registered political action committee. Our goal is to encourage Sikhs to take an active role in the public and civic affairs of California.
