Washington: Sikhs in the US have tapped the services of top political strategists to comprehensively study how Americans perceive Sikhism today and what the community needs to convey to build positive awareness in the country. The study, to be released this month, was done by Geoff Garin who advised former secretary of state Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. Garin recently completed the comprehensive study on behalf of National Sikh Campaign (NSC).

"This study will help our community because we now know what we need to be communicating and whom we need to be communicating with to build awareness - which is critical for a brighter, violence-free future in America," said Gurwin Singh Ahuja, co-founder and executive director of NSC. The report discusses how Sikhism is perceived by Americans, while also disclosing the facts, images and stories, the Sikh community needs to convey to effectively build positive awareness in America.

"This future hinges on our ability to effectively tell our fellow citizens that our values are their values, that Sikh values are American values," he said. The report will pave way for NSC to begin larger advertisement and media collaborations with political consulting firm AKPD founded by David Axelrod - one of President Obama's campaign strategists, a statement said.