
The Fearless for Justice March aims to raise public awareness about Sikhs facing repression
Bakersfield resident Rajinder Singh Chauhan was 17 years old and living in New Delhi on October 31, 1984, a day that changed his life forever. “I was in school that day and at around noon, we found out Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot and we knew something was up,” said Chauhan through a translator.
Gandhi, a prominent Hindu leader, was killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards, in retaliation for Gandhi ordering the army to attack scores of Sikh temples across Punjab which included killing civilians and devotees earlier that year. Gandhi’s assassination set off a wave of genocidal killings of Sikhs across India, as frenzied mobs engaged in gang-raping Sikh women, beating and dragging Sikh men out of their cars and homes, killing them, and torching Sikh businesses to the ground.
“I and my family were locked inside our house for two days, afraid anyone could come and kill us,” said Chauhan. Thanks to a Hindu friend, Chauhan said he was able to escape to an area that was predominantly Sikh. In 1997, he emigrated to Bakersfield to join his parents and brother and began working at Bolthouse Farms.
But Sikh leaders say the intimidation and repression tactics by the Indian government against Sikhs living in the U.S. continue. That’s why on October 9th, a statewide organization, Jakara Movement, launched a 350-mile-long march from Bakersfield to Sacramento. The purpose is twofold, one, to have federal recognition of the 1984 genocidal massacre and secondly, to protect Sikh American activists from intimidation and assassination attempts by foreign governments.
“This 1984 genocide is something that is not in the past, it’s something that is ongoing. We can see that with the transnational oppression happening right now,” said Ragini Kaur, a Sikh woman from Fremont who traveled to Bakersfield to partake in the march.
Jakara Movement borrowed a page from the playbook of the United Farm Workers union. UFW members marched from Delano to Sacramento thrice to gather public support for various legislative bills favorable to farm workers. “We will speak with people, elected officials, and media along the way to talk about not just what happened years ago, but have a conversation with them about what’s going on here today,” said Naindeep Singh, executive director of Jakara Movement.
Camila Chavez, daughter of UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta addressed the group gathered at Guru Nanak Mission Sikh Center on South H Street. Chavez said she was 17 years old when she marched with the UFW from Delano to Sacramento. “We share the same goals of respect, dignity, and justice for our communities,” said Chavez to the marchers. She continued, “Your fight, like ours, is a fight for human dignity and the sacred right to self-determination. It is the courage to stand tall in the face of oppressive forces of power and declare, we will not be silenced.”

California assemblymember Jasmeet Baines of Delano is the first Indian-origin Sikh to be elected to the California assembly representing the 35th District in Kern County. She was successful in getting the state legislature to adopt a resolution in 2023 declaring the killing of thousands of Sikhs in India in 1984 as a genocide.
Since then, she said her life has changed, receiving more than 100 threatening text messages, adding that the FBI contacted her about threats in her Sacramento office. Holding a Sikh prayer book that was given to her by her grandmother, Baines said the FBI has direct evidence the Indian government was behind the murder of a Sikh activist on U.S. soil. Baines claims that at least three other murder attempts targeting Sikh activists have been thwarted by the FBI.
“Given the circumstances, given what’s happening and given the targeting by the Indian government on Sikh activists, it is important that not only California but America recognizes that immigrants who come to this country to escape persecution should be protected,” said Baines.
Baines authored a bill earlier this year, AB 3027, aimed at establishing a training program for law enforcement to identify and address “transnational repression.” The bill highlighted concerns about transnational repression by governments such as Russia, China, Iran, and India, which reportedly target dissidents living abroad. The bill failed to pass. But Baines is hopeful a similar bill proposed at the federal level by Representative Adam Schiff of California will be approved by Congress.
After a brief prayer service, the group of marchers began the march from South H Street and Hosking Road. The long journey is expected to last 24 days, with stops in McFarland, Delano, and other towns along the way. Marchers expect to arrive in Sacramento on November 1st. To view a map of the march go here: https://www.jakara.org/1984march
