Sikhs Seen As 'hate Crime' Targets In Us

[JSinghnz]

http://www.voanews.com/content/sikhs-hate-crime-us/1672693.html

http://www.voanews.com/media/video/1673151.html

Jerome Socolovsky

May 31, 2013

WASHINGTON —

One night several years ago, Amandeep Singh Sidhu, a Washington lawyer who wears a turban, went to a blues club with his wife and a few friends, expecting to have an enjoyable and relaxing evening listening to music.

"All of the sudden I felt someone grab the front of my turban from behind and start to pull it off of my head," he recalls.

He describes the assailant as a white male, a recent college graduate from a privileged background, who had been drinking. Wearing the turban is a key part of Sikh identity, but Sidhu says that when he swatted the man's arm away, suspicions first fell on him.

"It was interesting because I think the initial reaction of members of the audience and the crowd was that perhaps I had assaulted this individual."

But, he says, a policeman nearby understood what had happened and apprehended the man on suspicion of committing a hate crime.

Sikhs may be the world's fifth largest religion, but they are a tiny minority in America, numbering about half a million. Yet they have been disproportionately targeted since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, largely because of their distinctive turbans and beards.

On August 6, 2012, six Sikhs were gunned down while worshipping at a temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee.

More than a hundred congressmen and an array of Sikh and non-Sikh advocacy groups have asked the FBI to include categories for Sikhs as well as Hindus and Arabs on its "Hate Crime Incident Report." The report is filed by more than 14,500 police departments across the country. It already has boxes for attacks that target Jews, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims.

The FBI is expected to make a decision when its Advisory Policy Board meets on June 5-6 in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Sidhu works at a Washington law firm and was one of the founders of the Sikh Coalition, a legal rights group.

While many of the attacks against Sikhs are by people who mistake them for Muslims, Sidhu says "there's certainly an association of the turban with terrorism."

He says nearly all men who wear turbans in the U.S. are Sikhs.

"And so to ignore that reality, and not have some meaningful metrics, tracked by the FBI, tracked by local law enforcement, accounted for in the Department of Justice in terms of their reporting, and their diversion of resources, is just - it's unacceptable," Sidhu says.

Michael Lieberman of the Anti-Defamation League, one of the groups urging the FBI to add the new categories, says bias against Sikhs is rooted in perceived mystery.

"I think there is confusion over who are these people that are wearing turbans and beards, and they look different," he says, "and that unfortunately has been enough for some individuals to say: 'You look like Osama bin Laden.'"

Lieberman says the gunman in the Oak Creek massacre had actually gone to the Sikh temple, or gurdwara, previously and even accepted a free meal there.

"The individual who went that day in August went to kill Sikhs in their gurdwara. I don't think there's any doubt about that," he says.

The ADL lawyer says while his organization was founded to fight prejudice against Jews, other groups should be counted, too.

"It's not just about the numbers," he adds. "To even raise the possibility of having Sikhs, Hindus and Arabs will mean that a law enforcement official that is filling out this form will have to be trained" in awareness of what it means to belong to one of these groups, and what makes them stand out.

Attorney General Eric Holder recently endorsed the new categories, increasing the likelihood the FBI will adopt them.

As for Sidhu, he dropped charges after the assailant agreed to perform 100 hours of community service for the Sikh Coalition. He says he didn't want to him to end up with a conviction on his record just because he "did something stupid."

[sat]

went to a blues club with his wife, what kind of singh is he then ? !!!

[VanHelsingh]

went to a blues club with his wife, what kind of singh is he then ? !!!

A modern, liberal Singh who likes to listen to jazz flute.

[singh135]

went to a blues club with his wife, what kind of singh is he then ? !!!

blues music is cool..would you rather he went to a 'hard kaur' concert? haha

[sat]

kirtan would be better, , kulyug meh kirtan pardana, but hey you "liberal" guys know better, blues hard core what the difference if it takes you away from waheguru ji its a waste of time.

[mal]

its wrong that his turban was pulled off, but i agree with sat what is he doing there with his wife.

[Jonny101]

plenty of sharaab is served in these blues clubs. Not a place for a Singh of the Guru to be in.

[N30S1NGH]

Does anyone remember the sakhi from sooraj parkash... during sri guru gobind singh ji time where two group of sikhs wanted to go to mela but one can go..one had to do seva of guru maharaj ..sri guru gobind singh ji sent one group of people to test and others were not too happy. So after the mela group came back..both groups were called in guru maharaj darbar..the group that went to mela were addressed- o sikhs you guys are great, during your time spent in mela your mind was attached to my lotus feet, you were thinking about me , you guys were bairaagi you guys were gurmukh maya vich udasi now guru maharaj addressed to the group which was in hazaar nazaar in sri guru gobind singh ji hazoori doing seva, guru maharaj said even though you were physically present in guru maharaj darbar try to do seva physically, your mind was wandering in mela, have all sort of thoughts things in mela...in this way guru maharaj gave updesh to both groups.

Coming back to this topic, I don't know this guy..so i won't judge him..he may be affected by maya in blue jazz club or may not be but just be bairaagi- turned any kind of lyrics sung there towards his pritam (Guru)..may be he is there just as duty to please his wife or vice vera..we don't know either way..he is mature and married and went with his wife..let him come to his own terms regarding own personal journey of sikhi..so i wouldn't judge as baba farid said in his bani- don't look at other people's avgun just look at yours...there are plenty of examples in gurbani and history where state of mind is being talking about over and over again. You would think sikhs who follow gurbani would be careful in judging others..no one is saying glorify this act..we all know going to such places are not recommended but there are lot of factors too tied in situation (those cannot be ignored) before we all jump on - lets burn the witch...!!!

There are already calls to rip his turban off by Sikhs themselves (now its edited)...my initial reaction- wth? are we really that fascist? ..no wonder we do not need external enemies..we have our own set of sikhs willing to attack other sikhs over this...yet here we whining about islamic fascism..!!

[sat]

plenty of sharaab is served in these blues clubs. Not a place for a Singh of the Guru to be in.

Jonny101 you said it brother, no one is judging anyone here, but some places a sikh avoids like the plague, pubs,clubs,brothels,casino's its about who and what we represent, would our Gurus and forefathers do that, we are quick to point at people who give sikhi/sikhs a bad name , but now we are a saying its ok for a singh and his wife to go to a blues club, i am confused, so what is it ok for us to go to clubs or not, i know where i stand.

[N30S1NGH]

He is already been victimized by hate crime yet no one is talking about that lets just double victimized him by judging him on top of that. Some of comments are insensitive due to nature of incident (bad timing for those comments) so if things would have esclated and if he were to die (god forbid) in his hate crime.. would people still pick a bone with him going to blue jaaz festival.???