By admin 
In a major rebuke of Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, seven Sacramento-area Sikh temples have declared they no longer trust her to represent their community.
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Representatives of the seven temples, in a signed letter Wednesday, cited three federal legislation proposals “crucially important” to Sikhs that Matsui had not supported in recent years. The representatives first sent a letter last week requesting a private meeting with Matsui, D-Sacramento. Her campaign did not respond to the invitation.
Wednesday’s letter marks an escalation, with a rare and public discontent from influential Sikh leaders just weeks before Matsui’s November congressional contest against Sacramento Councilmember Mai Vang. Sikh temples, known as gurdwaras, serve as community hubs and often draw hundreds or thousands of people each week.
An estimated 40,000 Sikhs live in the Sacramento region.
“Given her failure to support Sikh issues in Congress and her refusal to meet with Gurdwara leaders to discuss a path forward, we have lost confidence in her ability to represent our community fairly,” said the letter which is signed by temples in Elk Grove, North Sacramento and Lodi.
Mikey Hothi, a paid senior advisor for Matsui’s campaign, said in a written statement Thursday afternoon that the desired meeting with Matsui was a “last-minute request” and she has strong support in the community. The initial letter was sent on a Friday, proposing a meeting two days later.
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Hothi also pointed to Matsui’s endorsements from some Sikh elected officials and alleged that the letter was linked to Vang’s campaign.
“Doris meets regularly with the Sikh community and will continue to do so,” wrote Mike Hothi, who serves on the Lodi City Council. “We will not entertain a campaign stunt by a flailing campaign who in their desperation is trying to divide my community.”
In response, Vang’s campaign manager Nairka Treviño Müller said the campaign had no involvement in the letter and condemned the Matsui campaign for dismissing it as a “stunt.”
“This letter was written by respected religious and community leaders,” Treviño Müller said in a written statement on Thursday night. “They are facing transnational repression by foreign governments, hate speech by the Trump administration and discrimination at work. When local Sikhs raised those concerns, the person elected to represent them in Congress could not be bothered to meet or even pick up the phone.”
Gurtej Cheema, spokesperson for Capital Sikh Center and one of the letter’s signatories, said the meeting request grew out of recent conversations among Sikh leaders about Matsui’s congressional record. Increasing concerns about transnational repression targeting Sikhs in the U.S. have prompted congregants to ask questions about the upcoming election, he added.
“That has made people more conscious, and they reach out to us,” Cheema said. “And that was the reason why we, as community leaders — in response to the congregants’ demands, their requests — we decided to get together. There’s a lot of concern in the community.”
Cheema expressed particular frustration that Matsui’s campaign did not respond to the initial meeting request. He acknowledged the proposed meeting came on short notice, but said the campaign could have suggested an alternative date.
“When we did not get any response from her campaign, we had to make sure that the word went out,” Cheema said.
The Wednesday letter includes a link to a video posted to social media that has gained traction in the Sikh community.
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In the video, Amar Shergill, a Vang backer and former chair of the progressive caucus of the California Democratic Party, compares Matsui and Vang’s “real records” on Sikh issues.
Shergill starts by criticizing Matsui for not co-sponsoring a U.S. House resolution that would formally recognize and commemorate the 1984 Sikh Genocide, when thousands of Sikhs were killed in state-sanctioned violence following the assassination of Indian’s prime minister. The resolution was introduced last year by Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, and has the bipartisan support of California Reps. Vince Fong, Josh Harder, Ro Khanna and Adam Gray.
Shergill continues by saying Matsui did not co-sponsor a 2024 bill that would have established a reporting requirement for cases of transnational repression, a term for efforts by foreign governments to intimidate or silence people living in the U.S. His third example is a bill introduced earlier this year to create a task force on anti-Sikh hate and discrimination. That legislation has 65 co-sponsors, including 20 House members in California.
“She doesn’t care about us,” Shergill said in the video. “The three most important bills that were introduced in Washington, D.C. — Matsui was silent, she wasn’t there, she never stood up for us, she never made a statement on these issues.”
Hothi and Matsui’s House spokesperson did not respond to a question asking why Matsui did not co-sponsor the three federal legislative proposals mentioned in the letters and social media video.
Shergill’s video also includes praise for Vang. He cites her comments recognizing the 1984 Sikh genocide and support of a city ordinance unanimously passed this year that allows members of the Sikh community to carry a religious blade inside Sacramento City Hall.
“Obviously I am closer to Mai Vang politically,” Shergill told The Sacramento Bee on Thursday. “But putting that aside, on Sikh issues, she has just been exemplary.”
Six of the seven temples that signed the letters are in the newly drawn 7th Congressional District, which will be represented by the winner of the November election between Matsui and Vang. The district, which encompasses downtown Sacramento and Elk Grove, stretches from Placerville to the north and to Lodi in the south.
The seven temples — at a conservative estimate — represent congregations of about 15,000 people, said Jasjit Singh, a Sikh community leader and trustee for the Sacramento City Unified School District. He has endorsed Vang, but was not involved in the letter.
The seven temples are Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar Sahib Sacramento, Capital Sikh Center, Sacramento Sikh Society, Dashmesh Darbar Gurdwara, Guru Nanak Sat Sangat of California, Gurdwara Sachkhand Isher Darbar and Khalsa Darbar.
“This is a strong showing of solidarity,” said Singh, who has visited all seven temples. “This was pretty clear showcasing that our community is really not happy with how things have been going.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2026 at 9:56 AM with the headline “Sacramento Sikh leaders say they’ve lost confidence in Matsui ahead of election.”
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