Richmond Hill, Queens, home to the city’s largest Sikh community, rallied this

Richmond Hill, Queens, home to the city’s largest Sikh community, rallied this week to protest the brutal beating of Dr. Prabhjot Singh. An angry mob jeering slurs like “Osama” and “terrorist” attacked Singh, a Sikh-American professor at Columbia University, on September 21. Domenick Rafter of the Queens Chronicle reported on the protest.

In response to the attack, members of Richmond Hill’s Sikh community and area officials rallied on the steps outside the Sikh Cultural Society at 95-30 118 St. — the largest gurdwara, or Sikh temple, in New York State — to protest the attack and denounce hate crimes against Sikhs.

Present at the September 29 event were Democratic mayoral nominee Bill de Blasio and the nominee for public advocate, Letitia James. Assemblyman David Weprin, the representative of most of Richmond Hill spoke to those gathered.

“In a nation that thrives because of its long-standing commitment to diversity, religious tolerance and freedom, it is unacceptable that Sikh Americans have been the repeated targets of hate crimes,” Weprin said. “Mass violence and hate crimes against any group of people are intolerable and preventable.”

Sikhs have faced increased discrimination over the past decade.

Because of their trademark beards and turbans, Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims, although Sikhism is a completely different religion based in northwestern India. According to the SALDEF, there have been more than 300 hate crimes against Sikh Americans in the years following the 9/11 attacks, including intimidation, vandalism of religious centers or personal property, assault, discrimination in the workplace, rape and murder.

http://www.qchron.com/editions/south/sikhs-respond-to-attack-on-professor/article_f0b8b683-17fd-5993-af32-166639266d55.html