Prominent Sikh gurdwara says Pennsylvania-based Hindu American Foundation has promoted ‘interests of the BJP’
One of the largest Sikh houses of worship in the US is calling on the Trump administration to investigate a non-profit it has alleged is working as a “foreign agent” on behalf of the the Indian government and prime minister Narendra Modi.
The Fremont Gurdwara Sahib, which said it draws 5,000 Sikh worshippers every week and is a “fulcrum” of the Sikh community in the US and around the world, has asked the Department of Justice to launch a national security investigation into the Hindu American Foundation, to determine whether the Pennsylvania-based non-profit should be required to file as an Indian foreign agent.
Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, any such determination by the DoJ would require the HAF to publicly disclose details of its activities, including meetings with lawmakers, and any contracts and financial arrangements it has with the Indian government.
“The HAF has facilitated meetings between foreign principals and US lawmakers, platformed foreign principals at their own events, and consistently and unequivocally advocated for the interests of the BJP on both domestic and foreign policy matters,” a representative for the Gurdwara wrote in a letter last week to Pam Bondi, the US attorney general.
