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| US Sikhs face prejudice: Survey |
| On Baisakhi, instead of celebrating, Sikhs in New York gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 15-April-2008
14:57:33 PM |
| On Baisakhi, instead of celebrating, Sikhs in New York gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest.
Under the principals of their faith, Sikhs are mandated to leave all hair on their bodies uncut, wrapping the hair on their heads underneath a turban. In the years since 9/11, misperceptions about their appearance have led to hate attacks against Sikhs across the country.
A new survey by a Sikh advocacy group has revealed fresh, startling statistics about the deep level of prejudice against the Sikh community after 9/11 because of the way they look.
Forty one per cent of New York City's Sikhs have faced verbal abuse.
Half of the New York's Sikh students have been harassed in school, based on their religion or national origin.
One in ten report that they have been refused employment or a job promotion because of their Sikh identity.
Like Sathari Singh, a subway train driver, who after 20 years of working for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was told after 9/11 that he could not wear his turban to work. Singh refused and sued the MTA. Now he still has his job but has to wear a MTA logo on his pagdi.
''I consider it an advertising logo and some thing religious is not a venue for advertising. This is desecrating. Moreover, I did not wear the patch in the first 24 years that I worked there,'' said Sathari Singh, MTA employee.
''I just felt that it was another attempt to harass us and brand us and treat us differently,'' he added.
The report ''Making our Voices Heard: A Civil Rights Agenda for New York City's Sikhs,'' includes a list of recommendations for government agencies to live up to their promise of equal rights for all-ranging from language access at area hospitals to better training for law enforcement officers and educators.
''Saying that every man is equal is not enough. It is time that every Sikh American should not be afraid to walk out of their home in their own city
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