The Sikh Coalition Newsletter

The Voice - Quarterly Newsletter
Vaisakh 534 NanakShahi
April, 2002
Issue II

Impacting the Community Now – One Sikh Airline Passenger

Bhavdeep Singh arrived in America a few months ago. Soon after settling in California he had to attend a wedding in Pennsylvania. After the wedding, tired and excited from his trip, he arrived at the airport to travel home. As he approached the metal detector, he realized he was carrying his kirpan. In order to cooperate with authorities, he took off his kirpan and showed it to the security screener before going through the metal detector. The security screener called colleagues to the scene and within five minutes Bhavdeep Singh was in handcuffs, on his way to jail. He spent an hour in a holding cell and several hours in questioning. Authorities also subjected him to repeated turban searches until they confirmed to their satisfaction that he did not pose a security threat. By the time Bhavdeep Singh was finally released his flight had departed. When he arrived at the same airport the following morning, he was refused admittance due to the events of the previous day. Although airport officials recognized that the matter had been a misunderstanding, he was still barred from boarding his flight. He then called a member of The Sikh Coalition. The Coalition immediately contacted the airport and airline to clarify what had happened in an attempt to secure passage for him, but received little cooperation. Subsequently, The Coalition leveraged various federal government contacts to support its efforts with the airline and airport. Within a few hours, the airline was forced to allow Bhavdeep to board the plane and he returned safely to his home in California.

Legal Affairs –Protecting Your Rights

In the wake of 9/11, The Sikh Coalition has legally contested numerous bias incidents such as hate crimes, employment discrimination, and kirpan cases. To sustain this activity in an organized manner, the Coalition has instituted the Justice Watch project. This project deals primarily with three issues that have been especially burdensome for the Sikh American community: Hate Crimes, Airport Profiling, and Employment Discrimination. The Justice Watch team:

• Gathers and tracks information on bias incident through its legal database.
• Works closely with victims as well as government and civil rights agencies to pursue redress for crimes.
• Seeks to reduce the occurrence of bias incidents against Sikhs by educating government and media affiliates along with members of both the Sikh and American communities at large.

While the Justice Watch team has organized The Coalition’s efforts on a broader scale, the Legal Affairs office has continued to take on important new initiatives. The Legal Affairs office is also working with the other areas of The Coalition and forming important alliances with organizations having similar goals. In light of how it’s drawn national media attention, the Coalition’s work on the Amric Singh case is currently its most prominent activity. Amric’s struggle to serve the public as a member of the NYPD while maintaining his Sikh ideals represents the finest of American and Sikh values.

The Sikh Coalition seeks to ‘protect and serve’ Amric Singh’s right to wear a turban
Like many other Sikh Americans, Amric Singh, wants to earn an honest living while helping his surrounding community. As such, he applied to the NYPD training program and was accepted for admission. After two weeks of training, however, Amric was fired for wearing his turban. Despite appeals and explanations that wearing a turban is a part of his faith, the NYPD remained adamant in its decision and its policies. Amric was bewildered that this could happen in a free society and believed he was left with no avenue for a fair chance. “I felt like my beliefs weren't good enough for the city," declared Amric.

In defense of Amric’s unjust treatment, The Sikh Coalition seeks social reform through a combination of educational, media, legislative, and legal measures. Ultimately, the Sikh Coalition aims to ensure that the NYPD will not be able to discriminate against Sikhs or others who wish to serve the city while practicing their faith. In this effort, The Coalition has leveraged online petitions, letters and videos of support from other police agencies around the country and the world, meetings with political officials, print and television media and legal efforts, to put pressure on the NYPD to recognize the flaw in its policies and openly welcome Sikhs to help ‘protect and serve’ the people of NYC. Please visit our website for the latest information on the Amric Singh initiative.

Sampling of Recent Work Within Legal Affairs

• Organizing a campaign focused on allowing Amric Singh to join the NYPD.
• Creating the Justice Watch Project to legally combat and systematically manage the legal activity of Sikhs with respect to Hate Crimes, Airport Profiling, and Employment Discrimination.
• Of the 106 known victims of criminal acts motivated by hate (collected through the web site), the Coalition contacted 79 victims who consented to the submission of information about their cases to the U.S. Department of Justice and local authorities. These cases were submitted to the Justice Department. 25 cases were highlighted by the Coalition due to victim demands or because the case in question was particularly egregious. As a result the FBI is investigating these cases.
• Of the approximately 30 incidents of airport profiling on the Coalition site, almost all victims have consented to the Coalition’s submitting information about their case to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and acting as an advocate in their case. The Coalition has submitted 10 formal complaints to the DOT thus far.
• Forging alliances with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC)
• Publicizing and participating in several South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT) Hate Crimes Panel And Video Screenings

Legislative Affairs

Since September 11th, The Coalition has actively engaged many areas of the government. The Legislative Affairs department of the Coalition has focused on cultivating these relationships to help foster long term initiatives that allow for each effort of the Coalition to more easily reach policy and decision makers within the government. The Legislative Affairs office also engages specific government officials on issues affecting Sikhs.

Within the past quarter the Legislative Affairs office has worked on the following major initiatives:

• Providing guidance for training on Sikhs to the Department of Transportation’s Transportation Security Administration, the new organization responsible for airport security and screening.
• Aiding in the lobbying of government officials on the Amric Singh case. The Legislative Affairs office is currently approaching congressional and state representatives for assistance on this important issue.
• Attending meetings hosted by the White House and other government offices
• Arranging for continued dialogue with other organizations pursuing similar legislative activism with the government
• Helping government offices obtain and complete work related to the Sikhs. By undertaking such work (Aiding the Department of Justice translate discrimination rights literature into Punjabi) informal channels are strengthened to service an ongoing working relationship.
  

The Legislative Affairs office is also arranging The Sikh Coalition Awards Banquet to honor various political officials, government offices and media representatives for their assistance to the Sikh community and Americans everywhere during the difficult times following September 11th. More details on this historic event will be available shortly on The Sikh Coalition Website.

Media Update

The Coalition’s Media Affairs Office constantly strives to represent positively Sikhs in the media, by selectively involving Sikhs in various media opportunities regarding both Sikh issues as well as the world at large. The Media office also carefully monitors inaccurate characterization of Sikhs by media organizations. Finally, the Media office helps to highlight the work of other departments and efforts of The Sikh Coalition as well as other groups and organizations. Over the course of the past quarter the Media office has helped to highlight several initiatives including the Amric Singh Case.

Accomplishments on the Amric Singh case:

• Issuing a Community Advisory on the Amric Singh case
• Creating a virtual lobbying campaign by launching an online petition supporting Amric Singh. (This petition garnered over 6000 signatures in a few short weeks)
• Gaining significant coverage within Newsday including an editorial supporting Amric Singh
• Placing an ABC News Story on the NYPD and Amric Singh
• Facilitating positive coverage of the Amric Singh case within the Richmond Hill Times
• Organizing an Appearance on Channel 9 News New York
• Driving forward multiple print and internet media articles covering the case and favorably representing the Sikh perspective
  

Human Rights

As we protect our freedoms here in the Americas, it is also important that we recognize and protect those of our fellow woman and man throughout the world. The recent pogroms in Gujarat and the violence in the Middle East stress the need for us to come forward and raise our voices to protect those that cannot speak or are not heard. The Coalition continues to launch initiatives to advocate for the human rights of all peoples.

Within the last quarter the Coalition has engaged in the following human rights activities:

• Sponsoring a Conference at Columbia University regarding Human Rights in Punjab. The Coalition in coordination with numerous organization, presented the conference: Law and Justice in Punjab: Is the Process a Part of the Punishment? Leading authorities from all over the world discussed how to remedy human rights abuses in Punjab.
• Supporting the Amnesty International initiative pressuring President Bush not to withdraw from the International Criminal Court Treaty.
• Condemning the Indian Supreme Court Death Penalty sentence against Professor Davinderpal Singh. Professor Singh was arrested and tortured into a confession. His case bypassed both due process and justice, and it represented a clear mishandling by the authorities. The Sikh Coalition offers its prayers to Professor Singh and his family.
• Participating in a Panel Discussion on Hate Crimes sponsored by Roseville Human Rights Commission in Minneapolis, MN.
• Sending a letter to Indian Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee, condemning the pogroms in Gujarat and urging the government to protect innocent Muslims and other civilians that are being mercilessly killed.
  

Community Affairs

The efforts of The Sikh Coalition cannot succeed without the support of the community at large. The Community Affairs Office of the Coalition actively works with gurdwaras, local communities and other grassroots organizations to ensure the representation and education of all segments of the Sikh community. The Community Affairs Office of The Sikh Coalition helps bind our work to the Sikh people as well as the larger communities in which we live.

Sampling of Community Affairs events and accomplishments:

• Sikh Sisterhood, a member of the Coalition, participated in a panel sponsored by Barnard College of Columbia University on women’s issues
• Participated in the 2002 Khalil Gibran Humanity awards dinner honoring significant philanthropic achievements
• Participated in National ACLU Civil Rights Meeting, offering the Sikh perspective on rights and freedom
• Involved in an interfaith Solidarity Seder organized by the Anti Defamation League (ADL)
• Presented the issues facing the Sikh community to the Ford Foundation
• Worked with the LA County Police Chief to issue a statement welcoming Sikhs to apply to the LA police force.
• Participated in the interfaith Rabbi Marshal Retreat focused on social activism in New York

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