Bathinda: Sikhs in the US are facing sustained hostility, FBI data suggests. Even though hate crimes in the US decreased by 7% in 2025, as recorded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), anti-Sikh hate crime incidents increased by 24.6% compared with 2024. A total of 177 anti-Sikh hate crimes were reported in 2025, up from 142 in 2024.The total number of hate crimes published by the FBI for 2025 shows a 7% decrease, from 11,404 incidents reported in 2024 to 10,606 in 2025.Civil rights organisation Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) and Sikh advocacy group Sikh Coalition analysed anti-Sikh and anti-Asian hate crimes. Sikh Coalition found that anti-Sikh hate crimes peaked in Sept 2025, when 26 incidents were reported in a month. Incidentally, this was the period following the high-profile roadway accident involving truck driver Harjinder Singh in Florida.“While this hate crime data remains imprecise, we are deeply concerned about its implications. Any increase in hate crimes is, of course, discouraging. But minority and immigrant populations have faced an even more openly hostile political and social climate since this data was collected. Sikhs specifically have been one of the many groups in the spotlight, from discrimination against and targeting of Sikh truck drivers to fear-mongering around Sikh articles of faith from the highest levels of our govt,” said Mannirmal Kaur, senior federal policy manager, Sikh Coalition.The organisation recommended increased engagement between sangats and gurdwaras and local law enforcement, including police departments and district attorney’s offices. It also recommended that Sikh bodies ask questions about how potential hate crimes are investigated and prosecuted in their areas.AAJC is closely monitoring trends affecting Sikh, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist communities, which continue to face discrimination driven by racial, religious, ethnic and anti-immigrant bias. AAJC reported that, apart from anti-Sikh hate crimes witnessing a nearly 25% increase, anti-Hindu hate crime incidents also increased by 12%, from 25 in 2024 to 28 in 2025. Anti-Buddhist hate crime incidents increased by 7.7%, from 26 in 2024 to 28 in 2025, while anti-Muslim hate crime incidents decreased by 10.1%, from 228 in 2024 to 205 in 2025.“The real risk is not simply that hate goes unaddressed, but that it becomes invisible. When the federal govt dismantles hate-crime prevention initiatives, cuts grants, weakens civil rights enforcement and erodes trust among immigrant communities, the impact is felt far beyond Washington DC. State and local agencies lose critical resources, community organisations lose support, victims become less likely to come forward, and fewer incidents are captured in official statistics. Communities are left less safe and policymakers are left with less visibility into the threats they are trying to address,” said Sim J Singh Attariwala, director of the anti-hate programme at AAJC.Box: Anti-Sikh hate crimes2024: 1422025: 177Increase: 24.6%Peak in 2025: 26 incidents in SeptemberBox: Hate crimes against religious groupsCommunity | 2024 | 2025 | ChangeSikh| 142| 177| 24.6% increaseHindu | 25 |28 |12% increaseBuddhist | 26 | 28 | 7.7% increaseMuslim | 228 | 205| 10.1% decrease
