Urgent Education in our midst and outside-Our Identity is Mistaken!
1669, Guru Nanak Ji graced the beautiful but highly disturbed land of
the Punjab.Seeing the strife around he declared in Bhairo M 5 , Page
1136,
"we are neither Hindus nor Moslems"
He went to say in Bhairo Kabir, Page 1159,'I have abandoned all
strife.I have abandoned both the Pundit and Mullah.Whatever was written
by the Pundit or the Mullah, that I accept not and has cast it aside'.
Nine more Gurus followed carrying the same Light of Liberation, Peace,
Freedom with Naam , for the welfare of all humanity , but for those
who chose to follow the path of the Sikhism, the journey was full of
challenges, with confidence and dignity.At the end of it the Sikh faith
was complete with an independent identity,history,and a unique message
of spirituality for all human kind and stood along other recognised
faiths, in its own right.
Sikhism is neither Islamic,nor Hindu, Buddhist or any other, but
plainly a single independent faith, Sikh.We have our own identity,
language and mode of prayers, that are totally different from anyone
else's.But many people, continue to mistake the Sikhs as Muslims,
Hindus, or taliban.In very recent times, it shook me to find out that
even many so called "Sikhs" in our midst, perhaps influenced by the
bollywood magical dramatics believe and rant on that Sikhs are nothing
more than the Hindu!
A RK Sandhu in a recent comment on a net states that "Guru
Nanak was born a Hindu and 'died'a Hindu, as only the Muslims and
Hindus argued over his body".This poor faculty of thought made me wonder!
RK Sandhu goes on to state "The Khalsa was formed to fight the
Mughals"How more misrepresentative and void of mental faculties can one
get, than this?She goes on to state"I am a true Sikh, and practise
Sikhism truly"What is the truth in any of her statements?Absolutely
nothing!If such self confessed 'Sikhs' know so little about Guru Nanak
and his faith, what more knowledge can we expect from people who meet
the Sikhs for the very first time?I would say nil understanding and
would have no knowledge about the Sikhs!
A Romesh Ghumiar, claims he is 'Sikh Hindu', on the net again.He waffles various issues and ends with obscenities.Not a Very Sikh idea of debate.
What is Hindu Sikh?Such people are mischieviously misrepresenting the
Sikhs and Sikh religion,creating their own concossion that makes no sense.
Fast forward , into the 1850s, Sikhs arrive in Malaya-Singapore ,first
as political prisoners, then as the law keepers of the empire.The
locals refer to them as Bengalis! For generations, the Sikhs have bit
their lips when mistakenly referred to as Bengalis. Many usually excuse
the gaffe by ordinary folk who do not know any better,but a storm blew
in a tea cup when a so called educated Chief Minister, Jamaludin refered
to the Sikhs gathered for Vesakhi, as Bengali! Jamaluddin admitted in
an SMS to the New Straits Times newspaper that he had made a mistake in
referring to Sikhs as Bengalis.
In Malaysia, Sikhs have been mistakenly referred to as Bengalis for
decades, yet no Sikh nor any other has been able to explain how,or
offer an explanation as to why this has been happening.
"Sikhs are the ones who celebrate Vasakhi, not Bengalis. Can't he get
that fact right? I am terribly disappointed with him," Someone said.
Many Sikhs present got cross and said that Malaysians, especially
political leaders, should know the difference between Bengalis and
Sikhs.Having been in the country for well over 150 years, other
Malaysians are generally as ignorant as the Americans appear to be
about the Sikhs and Muslims.
The same wrong label goes with Sikhs in Singapore, North Borneo and
Indonesia!
1860s, Many Sikhs are peddling around the Australian outback, selling
their wares.They are refered to as Afghans.No body offers any
explanation to why the Sikhs do not explain to the host community why
they are not Afghan.Many in the outback of Australia continue to today
believe those with turbans are Afghans.
Back track to 1907, many Sikhs have arrived on the west coast of
America since about 1880s.They are called Hindoos!On September 4th,
1907 five hundred white working men in Bellingham, WA gathered to drive
a community of "hindoo" workers out of the city.The Sikhs are called
Hindoos!Again no one takes the trouble to explain to the locals they
are mainly Sikhs and not hindoos!
At the end of the 21st century, Sikhs celebrate the 300 hunderd
annivesary of their unique identity, Khalsa hood.Large celebrations
take place all over the world where ever Sikhs communities are.But at
the end of the year non Sikhs are no better informed who the Sikhs
are.In Germany, The Sikhs are known as Indians and sometimes Hindus!
In Italy,until 1980s Sikhs were confused with the North African
Muslims, namely Malians!This still persist in many of the Southern
parts of Italy, despite now an ever increasing populatiuon of Sikhs,
running into over 130,000.
In Paris, a person asked me if I was a Muslameen from Sudan, in
1978.In 2008, I was asked the same again on the streets of Paris.They have been no better educated.
The French Government seeing the rising tide of extremism in the
name of religion, bans the Burka,hijab and other religious symbols in
France.The Sikh Turban, being part of the five articles of the faith
and identity of the Sikhs falls into this ban.Sikhs cry out and assert
their religious freedom.The French ask, are there any Sikhs in
France?Goes to show, just how much had Sikhs explained to other
communities about themselves!Despite a resident population of about
7,000 and more visiting from Italy and UK, the French know absolutely
nothing about the Sikh religion and people.
In Iran Sikhs have been more fortunate to be refered to as Hindia.In
Afghanistan,as Sardar!In East Afrika,they were nobly refered to as Kala
Singa, in Kenya and Tanzania,and Singa Singa in Uganda!
The Sikh way of life in the USA changed and was shattered tremendously
after the attack on the twin towers in September 2001.The Sikhs who
many had mistakenly believed to be anything else, but Sikhs, would be
looked upon with suspicion! The first person arrested in suspicion was
an innocent Sikh travelling on an Amtrack train!As the photo of his
arrest was flashed all the world over, it sent a wave of shock among
Sikhs!Why are they arresting a Sikh, when the self declared culprits of
the plane crashes were extremist Muslims, allied to the taliban or
other extremist terror groups, using the name of Islam, and against the
wishes of the greater majority of Muslims who wished to live peacefully.
The Sikhs in the USA too like their counter parts in Malaysia,
Singapore, Italy, France or Germany never bothered to seriously educate
the host communities about their identity and unique appearance.They had
worked hard,made success of their professions, jobs and busineses,kept
mostly to themsleves and out of attention, until that fateful day of
Setember,11th, 2001.
The after effects of the mistaken people and identity was not confined
to USA.It was felt in the UK.Reports had come in of some Sikhs being
shouted at with hate messages-"taliban"Osama bin laden"terrorist"But
thankfully, by and large, the large Sikh community in UK having had a
longer presence in the country , was more widely known correctly as
Sikhs and recognised for their hard working ethics and honest
community participation.The fact that Sikhism is taught in UK schools
and there was a large presence of Sikh history in the country 's
museums and libraries helped the Sikhs not fall victims of wrong
identification, as their American counterparts.
The case in Europe was slightly less fortunate.Sikhs were looked upon
with suspicion after 2001, in France, Germany and other countries.Sikh
passengers travelling within and out of mainland European airports
were strictly monitored and racially profiled in Poland, Italy and
France.
In Poland,a fluent Polish speaking Sikh from UK,was harrased at Warzaw
airport unnecesarily and asked to remove his turban.He took his case to
the courts. In Italy numerous cases of similar harrasment and racial
profiling have come to light.One involved a high profiled Sikh.In
France,a case has come to light,where a Sikh passenger was asked to
remove his head gear for inspection, but then relented and allowed to
board the plane.
Following these incidents, Sikhs gathered in in their thousands in
London, Madrid, Lisbon,Berlin, Rome and other European capitals to
assert their right to wear turbans without being racially profiled and
harrased.The campaign continues.
In Australia and New Zealand, the Sikhs faced similar hurtful
experiences.An Air New Zealand flight refused to take off after the
presence of 6 Sikh passengers on the plane.Some acts of vandalism were
committed against the Sikh Gurduaras in both countries, including
isolated attacks upon individuals.
Intererstingly, throughout all these period Sikhs have still come out
loud and clearly and boldly to say to the world who we are, and who we are
not; and how we are not associated with the world wide terrorsit acts,
that go on in the name of a religion.
However, the Sikhs in the US were not spared the wrath of individuals
and coporate race hate groups and ill informed government officials.It
all started soon after September 2011.Immediately after the September
11, 2001, terrorist acts, Sikhs came under attack.
They were being mistaken for Muslims because of their beards and
turbans, they became ripe targets for zealots seeking revenge.
The first person murdered in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks was a
Sikh -- a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, named Balbir Singh Sodhi
who was shot five times by aircraft mechanic Frank Roque.
In the intervening years, the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy
group, reported more than 700 attacks or bias-related incidents.some
instances from the long list of attacks that Sikhs have faced since
9/11:
September 15, 2001: Roque guns down Sodhi outside a Mesa gas station.
Roque drives up to the station, fires five times and flees. He goes on
to shoot at a Lebanese-American gas station clerk and fire into the
home of an Afghan-American family later the same day. He is serving a
life sentence.
December 2001: Two men beat store owner Surinder Singh 20 times with
metal poles in Los Angeles while they utter, "We'll kill bin Laden
today."
March 2004: Vandals scrawl the words, "It's not your country" in blue
spray paint on the wall of the Gurdwara Sahib temple in Fresno,
California. The temple was also vandalized a year earlier.
July 2004: Rajinder Singh Khalsa is beaten unconscious by six men in
New York City, after they taunt him and his friend about their turban.
The beating leaves Khalsa with multiple fractures.
August 2006: Iqbal Singh is stabbed in the neck with a steak knife in
San Jose, California, while he is standing in the carport of his house.
The attacker later tells police he wanted to "kill a Taliban."
October 2008: Ajit Singh Chima is punched and kicked in the head while
out on his daily walk in Carteret, New Jersey. The attacker does not
take anything from Chima.
January 2009: Jasmir Singh is attacked outside a New York grocery
store, with men shouting racial slurs. Two years later, his father is
attacked.
November 2010: Two passengers beat Harbhajan Singh, a Sikh cabdriver,
in Sacramento, California, with one of them calling him "Osama bin
Laden."
March 2011: Gurmej Singh Atwal and Surinder Singh are gunned down in
Elk Grove, California, while out on their afternoon walk. They are not
robbed and had no enemies, family members say.
February 2012: A Sikh temple under construction in Sterling Heights,
Michigan, is defaced, with graffiti on the wall depicting a gun and a
Christian cross. Someone also scrawls "Mohmed," perhaps in reference to
the Muslim prophet Hazerat Mohammed Sahib.
Some Sikhs had their houses vandalized; others were spat upon. In some
extreme cases, Sikhs were set upon by groups of people and beaten.Often
even the Police instead of arresting the criminal perpetrators arrested
the Sikhs and families, only to let go later!The prejucide with racial
profiling was at work.
As the incidents waned, the community had hoped the worst was behind
them -- until Sunday the 6th , when a man shot and killed at least six
people at the Sikh Gurduara outside Milwaukee, wounded a police
officer and was shot by another officer's bullets, later shooting
himself in the head.
.Witnesses said the gunman had a 9/11 tattoo on one arm.While the
shooter's motives are not yet known, what is clear is that the incident
has dredged up the sense of shock and sadness Sikhs felt 11 years ago.
"Everybody should feel at home," he said Sunday. "This nation belongs
to everyone."But little seems to have changed.The United States is home
to about 700,000 Sikhs, nearly all of Indian origin. The men are easily
identifiable by their beards and turbans, a tradition that's lasted for
500 years.
Today, we are all American Sikhs.But the attire and appearance have
also meant that they are often mistaken for Muslims, and are targets of
anti-Islam attacks.
"Our appearance looks like Osama bin Laden and those of Afghanistan,"
Suminder Sodhi, a friend of the Arizona victim, said at the time of the
first attack. "But we are different people from Muslim people. We have
different beliefs, a different religion."
Because many of the incidents go unreported and because the FBI doesn't
specifically list them -- instead lumping them as "anti-Islamic" crimes
-- exact numbers are hard to come by.
Earlier this year, New York Rep. Joe Crowley sent a letter to the
Justice Department to begin tracking crimes against Sikhs. He asked
that the FBI update its Hate Crime Incident Report Form (1-699), which
does not have a designation for crimes against Sikhs as it does for
some other groups.
"The more information our law enforcement agencies have on violence
against Sikh-Americans, the more they can do to help prevent these
crimes and bring those who commit them to justice," Crowley said.
But what can the Sikh community do to teach the people that they are
Sikhs.Not Bengalis, Taliban, Hindoos, or Muslims.When in our own midst
we have misled people like RK Sandhu and Romesh Ghumiar, who are
calling themselves Hindu -Sikh or that Sikhs are Hindus!That Guru Nanak
was Hindu!These parasite and subservient thinking of such misinformed
people from our midst needs to be erased and challenged. We need to teach
those in our midst and non Sikhs that we are Sikhs and a totally
independent community and not part or any sect of Hinduism or any other.
Going by history, our mistaken identity is not a new phenomenon.It
appears to have started in Malaysia in the 1850s and has dragged along
with Sikhs being called different names and with different tags in
different parts of the world.This often wrong label has given wrong
impressions and prejudice against the Sikhs.
Also going by history, Sikhs in Malaysia, Singapore and elewhere have
not done anything nationally to correct the wrong label of Bengali,
Taliban,or Hindoo, as a community.Would same line of thinking prevail
within the American Sikh community?I think it would be a grave mistake
if nothing was done to correct the wrong perception Americans and
others have about the Sikh identity, and image as a community.
It is very urgent need of the day,following what happened in Winconsin
to educate not only others but those fickle minded within our own who
ignorantly perceive Sikhs to be Hindus or anything else but SIKHS!Education is the biggest weapon with time, the Sikhs can have to invest into local communities to educate about themselves.
I end reiterating that Sikhs are NOT Hindus,nor Muslims with a few
couplets from Prabhati Kabir, Page 1350,
If God only lives in the Mosque, to whom belongs the rest.Hindus
consider hari is contained in the image.Both do not know the Essence.
Gurcharan Singh Kulim
Repton Park,Chigwell
More...
1669, Guru Nanak Ji graced the beautiful but highly disturbed land of
the Punjab.Seeing the strife around he declared in Bhairo M 5 , Page
1136,
"we are neither Hindus nor Moslems"
He went to say in Bhairo Kabir, Page 1159,'I have abandoned all
strife.I have abandoned both the Pundit and Mullah.Whatever was written
by the Pundit or the Mullah, that I accept not and has cast it aside'.
Nine more Gurus followed carrying the same Light of Liberation, Peace,
Freedom with Naam , for the welfare of all humanity , but for those
who chose to follow the path of the Sikhism, the journey was full of
challenges, with confidence and dignity.At the end of it the Sikh faith
was complete with an independent identity,history,and a unique message
of spirituality for all human kind and stood along other recognised
faiths, in its own right.
Sikhism is neither Islamic,nor Hindu, Buddhist or any other, but
plainly a single independent faith, Sikh.We have our own identity,
language and mode of prayers, that are totally different from anyone
else's.But many people, continue to mistake the Sikhs as Muslims,
Hindus, or taliban.In very recent times, it shook me to find out that
even many so called "Sikhs" in our midst, perhaps influenced by the
bollywood magical dramatics believe and rant on that Sikhs are nothing
more than the Hindu!
A RK Sandhu in a recent comment on a net states that "Guru
Nanak was born a Hindu and 'died'a Hindu, as only the Muslims and
Hindus argued over his body".This poor faculty of thought made me wonder!
RK Sandhu goes on to state "The Khalsa was formed to fight the
Mughals"How more misrepresentative and void of mental faculties can one
get, than this?She goes on to state"I am a true Sikh, and practise
Sikhism truly"What is the truth in any of her statements?Absolutely
nothing!If such self confessed 'Sikhs' know so little about Guru Nanak
and his faith, what more knowledge can we expect from people who meet
the Sikhs for the very first time?I would say nil understanding and
would have no knowledge about the Sikhs!
A Romesh Ghumiar, claims he is 'Sikh Hindu', on the net again.He waffles various issues and ends with obscenities.Not a Very Sikh idea of debate.
What is Hindu Sikh?Such people are mischieviously misrepresenting the
Sikhs and Sikh religion,creating their own concossion that makes no sense.
Fast forward , into the 1850s, Sikhs arrive in Malaya-Singapore ,first
as political prisoners, then as the law keepers of the empire.The
locals refer to them as Bengalis! For generations, the Sikhs have bit
their lips when mistakenly referred to as Bengalis. Many usually excuse
the gaffe by ordinary folk who do not know any better,but a storm blew
in a tea cup when a so called educated Chief Minister, Jamaludin refered
to the Sikhs gathered for Vesakhi, as Bengali! Jamaluddin admitted in
an SMS to the New Straits Times newspaper that he had made a mistake in
referring to Sikhs as Bengalis.
In Malaysia, Sikhs have been mistakenly referred to as Bengalis for
decades, yet no Sikh nor any other has been able to explain how,or
offer an explanation as to why this has been happening.
"Sikhs are the ones who celebrate Vasakhi, not Bengalis. Can't he get
that fact right? I am terribly disappointed with him," Someone said.
Many Sikhs present got cross and said that Malaysians, especially
political leaders, should know the difference between Bengalis and
Sikhs.Having been in the country for well over 150 years, other
Malaysians are generally as ignorant as the Americans appear to be
about the Sikhs and Muslims.
The same wrong label goes with Sikhs in Singapore, North Borneo and
Indonesia!
1860s, Many Sikhs are peddling around the Australian outback, selling
their wares.They are refered to as Afghans.No body offers any
explanation to why the Sikhs do not explain to the host community why
they are not Afghan.Many in the outback of Australia continue to today
believe those with turbans are Afghans.
Back track to 1907, many Sikhs have arrived on the west coast of
America since about 1880s.They are called Hindoos!On September 4th,
1907 five hundred white working men in Bellingham, WA gathered to drive
a community of "hindoo" workers out of the city.The Sikhs are called
Hindoos!Again no one takes the trouble to explain to the locals they
are mainly Sikhs and not hindoos!
At the end of the 21st century, Sikhs celebrate the 300 hunderd
annivesary of their unique identity, Khalsa hood.Large celebrations
take place all over the world where ever Sikhs communities are.But at
the end of the year non Sikhs are no better informed who the Sikhs
are.In Germany, The Sikhs are known as Indians and sometimes Hindus!
In Italy,until 1980s Sikhs were confused with the North African
Muslims, namely Malians!This still persist in many of the Southern
parts of Italy, despite now an ever increasing populatiuon of Sikhs,
running into over 130,000.
In Paris, a person asked me if I was a Muslameen from Sudan, in
1978.In 2008, I was asked the same again on the streets of Paris.They have been no better educated.
The French Government seeing the rising tide of extremism in the
name of religion, bans the Burka,hijab and other religious symbols in
France.The Sikh Turban, being part of the five articles of the faith
and identity of the Sikhs falls into this ban.Sikhs cry out and assert
their religious freedom.The French ask, are there any Sikhs in
France?Goes to show, just how much had Sikhs explained to other
communities about themselves!Despite a resident population of about
7,000 and more visiting from Italy and UK, the French know absolutely
nothing about the Sikh religion and people.
In Iran Sikhs have been more fortunate to be refered to as Hindia.In
Afghanistan,as Sardar!In East Afrika,they were nobly refered to as Kala
Singa, in Kenya and Tanzania,and Singa Singa in Uganda!
The Sikh way of life in the USA changed and was shattered tremendously
after the attack on the twin towers in September 2001.The Sikhs who
many had mistakenly believed to be anything else, but Sikhs, would be
looked upon with suspicion! The first person arrested in suspicion was
an innocent Sikh travelling on an Amtrack train!As the photo of his
arrest was flashed all the world over, it sent a wave of shock among
Sikhs!Why are they arresting a Sikh, when the self declared culprits of
the plane crashes were extremist Muslims, allied to the taliban or
other extremist terror groups, using the name of Islam, and against the
wishes of the greater majority of Muslims who wished to live peacefully.
The Sikhs in the USA too like their counter parts in Malaysia,
Singapore, Italy, France or Germany never bothered to seriously educate
the host communities about their identity and unique appearance.They had
worked hard,made success of their professions, jobs and busineses,kept
mostly to themsleves and out of attention, until that fateful day of
Setember,11th, 2001.
The after effects of the mistaken people and identity was not confined
to USA.It was felt in the UK.Reports had come in of some Sikhs being
shouted at with hate messages-"taliban"Osama bin laden"terrorist"But
thankfully, by and large, the large Sikh community in UK having had a
longer presence in the country , was more widely known correctly as
Sikhs and recognised for their hard working ethics and honest
community participation.The fact that Sikhism is taught in UK schools
and there was a large presence of Sikh history in the country 's
museums and libraries helped the Sikhs not fall victims of wrong
identification, as their American counterparts.
The case in Europe was slightly less fortunate.Sikhs were looked upon
with suspicion after 2001, in France, Germany and other countries.Sikh
passengers travelling within and out of mainland European airports
were strictly monitored and racially profiled in Poland, Italy and
France.
In Poland,a fluent Polish speaking Sikh from UK,was harrased at Warzaw
airport unnecesarily and asked to remove his turban.He took his case to
the courts. In Italy numerous cases of similar harrasment and racial
profiling have come to light.One involved a high profiled Sikh.In
France,a case has come to light,where a Sikh passenger was asked to
remove his head gear for inspection, but then relented and allowed to
board the plane.
Following these incidents, Sikhs gathered in in their thousands in
London, Madrid, Lisbon,Berlin, Rome and other European capitals to
assert their right to wear turbans without being racially profiled and
harrased.The campaign continues.
In Australia and New Zealand, the Sikhs faced similar hurtful
experiences.An Air New Zealand flight refused to take off after the
presence of 6 Sikh passengers on the plane.Some acts of vandalism were
committed against the Sikh Gurduaras in both countries, including
isolated attacks upon individuals.
Intererstingly, throughout all these period Sikhs have still come out
loud and clearly and boldly to say to the world who we are, and who we are
not; and how we are not associated with the world wide terrorsit acts,
that go on in the name of a religion.
However, the Sikhs in the US were not spared the wrath of individuals
and coporate race hate groups and ill informed government officials.It
all started soon after September 2011.Immediately after the September
11, 2001, terrorist acts, Sikhs came under attack.
They were being mistaken for Muslims because of their beards and
turbans, they became ripe targets for zealots seeking revenge.
The first person murdered in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks was a
Sikh -- a gas station owner in Mesa, Arizona, named Balbir Singh Sodhi
who was shot five times by aircraft mechanic Frank Roque.
In the intervening years, the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy
group, reported more than 700 attacks or bias-related incidents.some
instances from the long list of attacks that Sikhs have faced since
9/11:
September 15, 2001: Roque guns down Sodhi outside a Mesa gas station.
Roque drives up to the station, fires five times and flees. He goes on
to shoot at a Lebanese-American gas station clerk and fire into the
home of an Afghan-American family later the same day. He is serving a
life sentence.
December 2001: Two men beat store owner Surinder Singh 20 times with
metal poles in Los Angeles while they utter, "We'll kill bin Laden
today."
March 2004: Vandals scrawl the words, "It's not your country" in blue
spray paint on the wall of the Gurdwara Sahib temple in Fresno,
California. The temple was also vandalized a year earlier.
July 2004: Rajinder Singh Khalsa is beaten unconscious by six men in
New York City, after they taunt him and his friend about their turban.
The beating leaves Khalsa with multiple fractures.
August 2006: Iqbal Singh is stabbed in the neck with a steak knife in
San Jose, California, while he is standing in the carport of his house.
The attacker later tells police he wanted to "kill a Taliban."
October 2008: Ajit Singh Chima is punched and kicked in the head while
out on his daily walk in Carteret, New Jersey. The attacker does not
take anything from Chima.
January 2009: Jasmir Singh is attacked outside a New York grocery
store, with men shouting racial slurs. Two years later, his father is
attacked.
November 2010: Two passengers beat Harbhajan Singh, a Sikh cabdriver,
in Sacramento, California, with one of them calling him "Osama bin
Laden."
March 2011: Gurmej Singh Atwal and Surinder Singh are gunned down in
Elk Grove, California, while out on their afternoon walk. They are not
robbed and had no enemies, family members say.
February 2012: A Sikh temple under construction in Sterling Heights,
Michigan, is defaced, with graffiti on the wall depicting a gun and a
Christian cross. Someone also scrawls "Mohmed," perhaps in reference to
the Muslim prophet Hazerat Mohammed Sahib.
Some Sikhs had their houses vandalized; others were spat upon. In some
extreme cases, Sikhs were set upon by groups of people and beaten.Often
even the Police instead of arresting the criminal perpetrators arrested
the Sikhs and families, only to let go later!The prejucide with racial
profiling was at work.
As the incidents waned, the community had hoped the worst was behind
them -- until Sunday the 6th , when a man shot and killed at least six
people at the Sikh Gurduara outside Milwaukee, wounded a police
officer and was shot by another officer's bullets, later shooting
himself in the head.
.Witnesses said the gunman had a 9/11 tattoo on one arm.While the
shooter's motives are not yet known, what is clear is that the incident
has dredged up the sense of shock and sadness Sikhs felt 11 years ago.
"Everybody should feel at home," he said Sunday. "This nation belongs
to everyone."But little seems to have changed.The United States is home
to about 700,000 Sikhs, nearly all of Indian origin. The men are easily
identifiable by their beards and turbans, a tradition that's lasted for
500 years.
Today, we are all American Sikhs.But the attire and appearance have
also meant that they are often mistaken for Muslims, and are targets of
anti-Islam attacks.
"Our appearance looks like Osama bin Laden and those of Afghanistan,"
Suminder Sodhi, a friend of the Arizona victim, said at the time of the
first attack. "But we are different people from Muslim people. We have
different beliefs, a different religion."
Because many of the incidents go unreported and because the FBI doesn't
specifically list them -- instead lumping them as "anti-Islamic" crimes
-- exact numbers are hard to come by.
Earlier this year, New York Rep. Joe Crowley sent a letter to the
Justice Department to begin tracking crimes against Sikhs. He asked
that the FBI update its Hate Crime Incident Report Form (1-699), which
does not have a designation for crimes against Sikhs as it does for
some other groups.
"The more information our law enforcement agencies have on violence
against Sikh-Americans, the more they can do to help prevent these
crimes and bring those who commit them to justice," Crowley said.
But what can the Sikh community do to teach the people that they are
Sikhs.Not Bengalis, Taliban, Hindoos, or Muslims.When in our own midst
we have misled people like RK Sandhu and Romesh Ghumiar, who are
calling themselves Hindu -Sikh or that Sikhs are Hindus!That Guru Nanak
was Hindu!These parasite and subservient thinking of such misinformed
people from our midst needs to be erased and challenged. We need to teach
those in our midst and non Sikhs that we are Sikhs and a totally
independent community and not part or any sect of Hinduism or any other.
Going by history, our mistaken identity is not a new phenomenon.It
appears to have started in Malaysia in the 1850s and has dragged along
with Sikhs being called different names and with different tags in
different parts of the world.This often wrong label has given wrong
impressions and prejudice against the Sikhs.
Also going by history, Sikhs in Malaysia, Singapore and elewhere have
not done anything nationally to correct the wrong label of Bengali,
Taliban,or Hindoo, as a community.Would same line of thinking prevail
within the American Sikh community?I think it would be a grave mistake
if nothing was done to correct the wrong perception Americans and
others have about the Sikh identity, and image as a community.
It is very urgent need of the day,following what happened in Winconsin
to educate not only others but those fickle minded within our own who
ignorantly perceive Sikhs to be Hindus or anything else but SIKHS!Education is the biggest weapon with time, the Sikhs can have to invest into local communities to educate about themselves.
I end reiterating that Sikhs are NOT Hindus,nor Muslims with a few
couplets from Prabhati Kabir, Page 1350,
If God only lives in the Mosque, to whom belongs the rest.Hindus
consider hari is contained in the image.Both do not know the Essence.
Gurcharan Singh Kulim
Repton Park,Chigwell
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