Mission | History | Comments from Community | SMART Brochure

About SMART

With over 20 million followers worldwide, Sikhism is the world's fifth largest religion. Its constituents can be found in most countries, and their widespread distribution includes a pioneering presence in North America dating back to the turn of the century. Although Sikhs are a highly visible minority, few people are aware of their customs, history, and religious beliefs. This sometimes leads to the dilemma of publicly disseminated information about them being inaccurate.

Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART) founded in 1996, is a Washington, DC-based Sikh advocacy group having the following goals:

 Monitor the media for misinformation and misrepresentation of the Sikh faith and its adherents, and to correct such errors.

 Serve as a source of accurate and verifiable information on all aspects of the Sikh religion and its adherents: theology, culture, history and politics.

 Educate the American polity about the Sikhs, their culture and their heritage.

 Educate the Sikh American community about its civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights; other fundamental freedoms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and work to protect and promote these rights.

 Develop resources and provide services to empower the community to fully realize and enjoy the aforementioned rights.

 Research issues affecting the civil rights and religious freedoms of the Sikh American community.

 Perform the aforementioned objectives in a non-political manner and by remaining unbiased in all respects.

Our aim is to build bridges of understanding, to help foster greater social harmony and acquaintance of Sikhs as an integral, active part of the wonderfully diverse American community. We believe the Sikh American community has an important contribution to make to all aspects of society, and that this will be promoted by accurate media coverage. SMART is ultimately dedicated towards the betterment of the Sikh American community and its active participation in the greater American polity. SMART is a non-profit organization with a diverse membership across North America.

SMART is dedicated to the accurate representation of Sikhs and Sikhism in American Society and media; combating bigotry and prejudice; protecting the rights and freedom of Sikhs in America; and providing resources to empower the community by helping it understand and exercise its civil, political, economical, social, and cultural rights. SMART is a non-political organisation committed to remaining unbiased in all respects

SMART was founded in July 1996 as a volunteer organisation. At present, it is a membership-based, grass roots organization. Memership Dues support all our activities and services. SMART is tax-exempt 501(c)(3) entity.