Last week in California, Sikhs again became victims of racial attacks on different places. The first assault happened on 31 July in Surrey, a 50-year-old Sikh resident city of Turlock in California.
At the time of the incident, Surjit Singh Malhi was putting signboards in favor of Republican candidate Jeff Dunham's political campaign in the Congressman's election. 2 when two white guys put sand in Surjit Singh Malli's eyes so that he could not see it.
After this, he was hit with belt and hockey on his head and back. Surjit Singh Malhi said that the attackers were saying that you are not a resident of the city. Go back to your country. Also, His truck was vandalized with hate slogans of 'Return to your country.
The second attack took place at 71-year-old elder Sahib Singh Natt in Manteca, California. During the incident, he was walking in his area, suddenly two American boys came, and they started beating him. he fell on the road. He got many sophisticated injuries.
These attacks have rocked the Punjabi community living in California. But these attacks have also received serious notice from California's political class.
Even earlier in California, racial hatred was being attacked against the Sikhs. Especially after the 9/11 attacks by Islamist terrorists, there has been a considerable increase in such racial hate attacks due to the misunderstanding about the identity of Sikhs in America and Canada.
SAD INCIDENT OF SIKH ELDERLY MAN BEING ATTACKED IN CALIFORNIA ਇੱਕ ਸਿੱਖ ਤੇ ਫੇਰ ਹਮਲਾ ਕਲ ਕੈਲੀਫੋਰਨਿਆ ਚ! Yesterday in Manteca, California, Sahib Singh was the victim of an attack while taking his morning walk. The 71-year-old Punjabi immigrant was assaulted causing him to hit the cement street and his turban to be violently ripped off. This sad act of cruelty is just the latest example of violence, bullying and abuse against Sikh Americans. Recently in Turlock, California, Surjit Singh Malhi was also brutally assaulted while putting up campaign yard signs in his local community. Dr. Rajwant Singh, co-founder of National Sikh Campaign (NSC) stated, "We are disturbed and appalled by the recent attacks on Sikh Americans. The fact that Sahib Singh was assaulted and had his turban ripped off his head should be a peaceful call to action for our community and the many supporters of our campaign -- Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike -- to take a more active role in combating hate . This situation serves as a painful reminder that there is still much work to be done in bringing Americans of all faiths, colors, and communities together." “Our nation is going through an incredible time of polarization and hateful rhetoric has been increasingly inserted into public discourse. The Sikh community can be an easy target for people who are either enraged or misguided. We hope that civic sense prevails in this nation and we continue to make this nation stronger and more harmonious.” Gurwin Singh Ahuja, Executive Director of NSC, said, “We wear our turbans to stand up against inequality, injustice and the poor treatment of the oppressed. We launched National Sikh Campaign & We Are Sikhs last year so that more Americans could hear about their Sikhs neighbors, what we stand for and the contributions we make to our communities. #Hatecrime #Hatecrimes #Sikhs #California
Posted by Dr. Rajwant Singh on Tuesday, 7 August 2018
The first racial attack was on September 15, 2001, when a Sikh named Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered. This murder created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety among the entire Sikh community.
A few years ago, in the Wisconsin gurdwara, there were 6 Sikhs who died due to indiscriminate firing by a white lady in Sikh Temple. From last week, many incidents of racial hatred have been taking place in California.
Police said that the attack on Surjit Singh Malhi was described as a racial hatred and started looking for the culprits strictly. On the other hand, the police have registered a case of assault on the incident that happened with the elder Sahib Singh Nutt. While the whole incident was CCTV the camera has been recorded.
Two American youths suddenly attacking Sahib Singh Natt, it seems that a racial attack. As a protest, the Punjabi community gathered at Manteca, where locals expressed their views, the police officers, and American Punjabi leaders were also present. These leaders condemned the incident in rigid terms and appealed to the administration to assert it as a racial assault.
While condemning these incidents, the American leaders have said that there is no room for any such hatred on the basis of race, religion or political basis in American society. He said such attacks are a manifestation of the thinking of some people who do not think of taking society forward in a positive way.
The attack due to his involvement in the American political activity of Malhi is being criticized by all US political leaders and this attack is seen as a hate crime in the political arena. It is a positive practice for the Punjabi community that all political groups and parties are unanimous voicing their voice against the attacks on the community.
The Sikh community also learns from these events that if we become a continuous participant in American society in the activities of social, political and other areas, then as a minority we will be more successful in establishing our identity and at the same time At any point in time, we will be able to get support from other community of the society in the event of hate incidents.
Therefore, taking lessons from this episode requires our community to take a greater interest in the social and political activities of American society.
In our neighboring country Canada, the Sikh community has achieved great achievements despite being in the minority due to its interest and interest in the political field. There is no doubt that the number of Sikhs in the United States is extremely neutral.
But in California, New York, New Jersey, Chicago etc. there is a lot of Sikh community in the area, and in every area since the administration, Sikhs have maintained their identity at some level.
We need to be actively united in the social and political sphere to advance our identity in these areas. If we are successful in selecting 5-7 Congressmen from some of the select areas, then for the Sikh identity in the entire American society.
