In this presentation, Rajshekhar places the scholarly discourses around the North American Indian diaspora, transnational repression, and the forms of politics that emerge from competing groups within the larger diaspora in conversation with each other. Specifically, Rajshekhar asks, what explains the differing outcomes in transnational repression when diaspora groups are similarly effective as political agents? Put differently, why is the American Sikh diaspora targeted for their political activism while the Hindu diaspora is largely supported?

Rajshekhar will argue that we need to closely examine the historical legacies of formal and informal exclusion within the host state and majority vs minority statuses within the broader diaspora. Understanding how early diasporas were marginalized in their state of residence is important because it provides valuable context to clarify why ethnically diverse diasporas are unable to achieve strong levels of social cohesion across their different groups in contemporary times. Specifically, it illuminates the development of radical ideologies across groups in the diaspora, as they turned to their religious identities and institutions to find community and organize themselves as political agents.

On the other hand, disaggregating ethnic groups in a diverse diaspora by their majority and minority religious statuses matters because it calls our attention to the divergence we witness across these groups in the political activism displayed toward the homeland, the political alliances that are built in the host state, and the linguistic frameworks utilized to gain legitimacy for their social movements. This explains why some groups in a heterogenous diaspora are targeted by the home state for their political activism or the selective incidence of transnational repression.