Jakara Movement

What it is: The Jakara Movement is a grassroots Sikh organisation in California's Central Valley. Its own site says it works to empower, educate and organise working-class Punjabi Sikhs and other marginalised communities, and it names gender equality and the abolition of caste among its commitments. The James Irvine Foundation's profile of its director says it has grown to 70 high school clubs and 25 college chapters across 15 counties, with a paid staff of 41.

How it began: Jakara's history page says the idea came in spring 1999, when a group of friends from Fresno went to the Sikh Renaissance Conference and found it informative but without a genuine youth voice. They revived the idea on 1 January 2000, announced their mission on 22 June 2000 and held Jakara 2000. The page says the Jakara Movement itself was born in 2005, when the conference grew into an institution for recruiting and training volunteers. So the year given for its founding depends on what is counted: 2000 for the first conference, 2005 for the movement. The Ceres Courier says it became a nonprofit in 2009.

Its leaders: Naindeep Singh is co-founder and executive director, a founding member in 2000 and director since 2009 according to the Irvine Foundation, which gave him a Leadership Award in 2022. He also sits on the Central Unified School District board and was a candidate for Fresno City Council District 1 in the June 2026 primary, the San Joaquin Valley Sun reported.

Its work: Its site lists the Lalkaar conference, the Bhujangi Singh Youth Academy, the Bhujangan Kaur Leadership Academy, the Sikh Collegiate Federation, the Sikh Honors and Service Society, Nishaan, Sikh History Day and a fellowship. Jakara sponsored AB 3179, a California bill to formally recognise Punjabi and expand translation and interpreter services; its page says the bill passed both houses without a dissenting vote and awaited Governor Jerry Brown's signature. In 2020 it moved its voter outreach online, with phone banking on the census and mail ballots.

Key moments

• Spring 1999: the Sikh Renaissance Conference, and the wish for a youth voice.
• 22 June 2000: the group announces its mission; Jakara 2000 is launched that year.
• 2005: the Jakara Movement is born as an institution.
• 2017 to 2018 session: AB 3179 passes both houses.
• 26 and 27 May 2026: an anonymous complaint is reported, and Senator Anna Caballero names Jakara its 2026 Nonprofit of the Year for Senate District 14.

The 2026 complaint: The San Joaquin Valley Sun reported on 26 May 2026 that an anonymous complaint had gone to the Federal Election Commission, California's Fair Political Practices Commission and the Fresno County District Attorney and City Attorney. It alleges that Jakara's paid canvassers and phone bankers for the June primary, in which Naindeep Singh was a candidate, may amount to campaign intervention. The paper reported no response from Jakara or Singh and no finding by any agency. These are allegations only.