What is SB 509 Bill: New proposed California law that could prevent opposition to Khalistani activities, persecute Indian-origin Hindu Americans
On Wednesday (9th April), the US-based Hindu American Foundation (HAF) opposed the SB 509 Bill, which has been approved by the California State Senate Governmental Organization Committee.
The controversial legislation is prone to misuse against the Indian-origin Hindu diaspora in the United States. The vague nature of SB 509 Bill can lead to labelling of opposition to the violent Khalistani separatist movement as ‘digital, transitional repression.’
The co-legal Counsel for the Hindu American Foundation, Samir Kalra, spoke before the Committee and highlighted the dangerous nature of the SB 509 Bill.
“I want to start by stating unequivocally that we are against transnational oppression in all forms, whether by foreign governments or by foreign organizations. This bill, however, is not the right way to address this challenge,” he pointed out.
“On the contrary, SB 509 lacks the adequate guardrails and safeguards necessary to prevent OAS trainings on transnational repression from being politicized or from institutionalizing biases against diaspora communities from specific countries of origin,” Kalra added.
The co-legal Counsel for the Hindu American Foundation pointed out that the controversial legislation has the potential to label anyone (using digital technology to track the activities of terrorists or those involved in separatist movements) as ‘radicalised by state-sponsored propaganda or ideology’.
He further added, “This would set a to severely curtailing and undermining important first amendment freedom of speech protections. More dangerously, under the guise of protecting dissent, SB 509 would empower law enforcement to criminally prosecute diaspora groups and community organizations who merely speak out against terrorism and extremism by accusing them of being foreign agents or engaging in soft transnational oppression on behalf of a foreign country.”
Samir Kalra highlighted that the SB 509 Bill lacked both clarity and guidance and could create inconsistencies and confusion in the implementation of training for law enforcement authorities. He pointed out that this could be leaving minorities (such as Hindus) at the risk of prosecution.
“The language of the bill, both in its definition of transnational oppression and who is considered an agent of a foreign government, is overly vague and could easily be weaponized to create trainings that demonize specific communities and privilege certain viewpoints,” he concluded.
Details about the SB 509 Bill
The controversial ‘SB 509 Bill’ was introduced in the California State Legislature in February 2025 by Democrat leader and Senator Anna Caballero. The other co-authors of the legislation are Esmeralda Zamudio Soria and Jasmeet Bains.
The Bill seeks the development of ‘transnational regression recognition’ and training of California’s emergency and disaster response services by the Office of Emergency Services and the California Specialized Training Institute.
The proposed law defines transnational repression as “any action taken by government officials, diplomatic personnel, and proxies through acts such as extrajudicial killings, physical assaults, unexplained disappearances, physical or online surveillance or stalking, intimidation, digital threats such as cyberattacks, targeted surveillance and spyware, and online harassment, and coercion such as harassment of, or threats of harm to, family and associates both within and outside the United States.“
It could thus be weaponised against Indian-origin, Hindu Amercians for voicing their opposition to Khalistani extremism and seperatist activities.
The ‘SB 509 Bill’ further claims that transnational repression is a ‘human rights violation’ which is somehow aimed at curbing dissent and preventing individuals from exercising their ‘rights and freedoms.’
The proposed law further states that the California government, by virtue of its State policy, is supposed to
- Protect persons and organizations in the state from transnational repression.
- Pursue criminal prosecutions, as appropriate, against those who engage in transnational repression.
- Provide support services for victims and communities that may credibly be targeted in transnational repression.
- Meaningfully hold accountable foreign governments engaged in transnational repression and limit their ability to influence state policy or public opinion.
- (Coordinate actions to enhance and complement any federal laws or regulations related to transnational repression.
‘SB 509 Bill’ directs the Office of Emergency Services to develop a ‘transnational repression recognition and response training’ to address so-called ’emerging threats and specific information on tactics used by specific foreign governments’. The deadline has been set to 1st July 2026.
The training will involve identification of different tactics of transnational repression in physical and nonphysical forms, governments known to ’employ transnational repression’, best practices for appropriate local and state law enforcement prevention, gathering information about ‘communities targeted by transnational repression’ and misinformation.
Given that the Indian government has been a vocal opponent of Khalistani activities abroad, aimed at secession of Indian State of Punjab from the Union, it could be labelled as a foreign government (under the proposed California State law) of employing ‘transanational repression.’
The Khalistani Sikhs involved in plotting anti-India activities from American soil might as well be labelled as ‘community targetted by transnational repression.’ This is what makes the ‘SB 509 Bill’ dangerous.
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