After successfully arriving in Maryland and picking up the domes, they prepared for the long drive back to Montreal. In reality, however, their journey had just beginning. While the three Sikhs were loading their truck, four police cars encircled them. The United States had just went on an “orange” terrorist threat alert a few days earlier and the police were suspicious of anything that didn’t seem ‘normal’ to them.

The police immediately searched the three Sikhs. At 7 p.m., when the police discovered that Avtar Singh and Hardeep Singh had the kirpan on their persons, they were arrested and taken to the Scagville precinct in Maryland. Sukhjeet Singh, who did not have a kirpan, was left behind and alone. Not knowing what to do, and not knowing anybody in the United States, Sukhjeet Singh called members of his Montreal gurdwara sangat. He was advised to contact the Sikh Coalition.

At 7:15 p.m., the Sikh Coalition received a call from Sukhjeet Singh asking for assistance. The Coalition’s Legal Director began making calls to the Scagville police station. After reaching a police officer at the station, he tried to explain that the Avtar Singh and Hardeep Singh should not be custody because the kirpan is not a mere weapon but a protected article of faith.

The officer, hesitant to discuss the matter over the phone, requested information about the meaning and import of the kirpan and the requirement that initiated Sikhs carry it in writing. After putting together a three page letter together with 14 pages of legal precedent, the Coalition faxed to the letter and documentation to Sukhjeet Singh in Maryland at 8:15 p.m.

Sukhjit Singh hand delivered the letter and supporting documentation to the police station. After reviewing the letter, the Scagville precinct released both Avtar Singh and Hardeep Singh at approximately 9:00 p.m. Less than two hours after the arrest, they were able to continue their journey home to deliver the domes for the gurdwara. [top]

Prabhjost Singh - Defending Equal Educational Opportunity for Sikhs
Prabhjost Singh, eager to further his career, applied for admission to the Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Phoenix, Arizona at the end of 2002. He was denied admission to UTI, not because of his qualifications, but because UTI stated that his turban violated their “no hats” policy.

Prabhjost contacted the Sikh Coalition requesting its assistance. A Coalition legal volunteer contacted UTI asking that it admit Prabhjost Singh on the grounds that the dastaar (turban) is a religious requirement for Sikhs rather than a fashion or cultural item.

At UTI’s request, the Coalition provided written documentation on the significance of the turban as a religious requirement. After several discussions with the Coalition, UTI amended its policy. It now accepts qualified Sikhs who wear turbans into its classes. UTI Vice-President Shirrell Smith thanked the Coalition for providing the information the institute needed to make an informed decision. He added, "This was a learning process for all of us." [top]

Harjit Singh - Defending Sikh Hate Crime Victims
Harjit Singh, a Sikh taxi cab driver in Seattle, Washington, knows that like any cab driver, his safety often depends on the conduct of his passengers. What happened one night in October of 2003, however, exceeded the normal risks associated with his job.

Harjit was sitting in his parked cab, when a man accompanied by a group of five to six others directed ethnic and religious epithets at him from the street corner. The man said to Harjit: "Osama go back to your country or we will kill you." After an exchange with the men and trying to explain his faith, Harjit Singh decided it would be best to drive away in his cab. The group men of men, however, were not ready to end their encounter with Harjit. They followed his cab on foot and at the first stop light, only a block away, they surround the cab and began kicking it. They managed to shatter the passenger side window of the cab and pull off a rearview mirror, which one of the men used to further strike the cab. In a panic Harjit Singh started trying to call the police and then realized he should drive away as fast as he could. The men caused several hundred dollars worth of total damage to Harjit’s cab.

Harjit finally reached the police and together they returned to the scene. There Harjit explained to the responding officers that he had been called “Osama” and other epithets while his cab was being attacked. Nevertheless, when Harjit received a copy of the police report, he found that it did not say anything about possible bias motivation for the attacks, nor did it state that any epithets were directed at him.

Harjit contacted the Sikh Coalition for help. In response, the Coalition faxed a letter to the bias crimes coordinator of the Seattle Police Department expressing its concern that the ethnic and religious epithets directed at Harjit Singh were not included in the police report, and requesting that the matter be investigated as a possible bias crime. Hate crimes carry more significant legal penalties and send an important message to communities that racism and bias will not be tolerated. In addition, the Sikh Coalition alerted the Civil Rights Division of the federal Justice Department about the incident and Hate Free Zone, a local civil rights organization.

The bias crime coordinator agreed to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime and it is presently under investigation and possible prosecution as a hate crime. Afterwards, in December 2003, Harjit and other Sikh cab drivers in Seattle organized a blood drive to raise awareness of Sikhs in the local community and demonstrate that they too, are concerned, civic-minded citizens.[top]

Ipninder Singh and Devinder Singh - Defending the Turban in Places of Public Accommodation
In October 2003, Ipninder Singh and Davinder Singh, two young college students, were celebrating a friend’s birthday at night with a group of classmates. The group decided to go to a restaurant and club in suburban Chicago.

After passing through security at the club, the two young Sikhs gathered with their friends and began talking. While they were standing with their friends, an employee of the establishment approached them and told them that to remain they had to remove their “hats.”

Ipninder and Davinder explained to the employee that their dastaars were mandatory articles of faith and not hats. After a long discussion, the manager of the restaurant insisted that they either remove their dastaars or leave the restaurant. Not wanting to cause any bigger scene, the two young Sikhs chose to quietly leave the restaurant with their friends.

Davinder Singh contacted the Sikh Coalition requesting help to resolve the matter. The Coalition's Legal Director sent a letter to the restaurant detailing how their refusal to allow Ipninder Singh and Davinder Singh to stay constituted a violation of federal and Illinois state public accommodation statutes. The Chicago regional office of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, also sent a letter to the restaurant advising them that they had violated Davinder’s and Ipninder’s civil rights.

The owner soon contacted the Sikh Coalition and apologized for the incident. Furthermore he stated the restaurant would now allow all those individuals who wear head coverings for religious purposes to have full access to the premises.[top]

Ravinder Singh - Defending Sikhs at Work
Ravinder Singh, a well known attorney in the Sikh community, has assisted the Sikh community in many civil rights matters. He currently serves as a lead counsel in the NYPD discrimination litigation on behalf of Amric Singh, as well as in a lawsuit against Delta Airlines for the discriminatory treatment of a Sikh airline passenger. He is the last person many would believe to needed assistance dealing with discrim inatory actions.

Nevertheless, in September 2002, guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York told him he would not be allowed to meet his client unless he removed his turban for a search. When Ravinder refused to remove his dastaar, he was told he would not be allowed to visit his client.

Well aware of his rights, Ravinder contacted the Sikh Coalition and other Sikh organizations, including SMART and the Sikh Bar Association, requesting their thoughts on how best to approach the matter. The Sikh Coalition, having a strong working relationship with the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, contacted them on Ravinder’s behalf. The Sikh Coalition subsequently contacted the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (CRS), with which the Coalition has a strong working relationship. The Coalition’s contact at CRS sent the matter to the office that investigates allegations of discrimination committed by government employees, the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The Coalition, along with other Sikh organizations, also sent letters to the Federal Bureau of Prisons detailing the standard for turban searches they had helped develop in the airport context.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted an investigation, coming to New York to interview Ravinder and Metropolitan Detention Center officials. The Office then advised the Bureau of Prisons that a policy of requiring Sikhs to remove their turbans before entering the prison was likely discriminatory. On January 17, 2003, the Bureau issued a clarification stating that Sikhs would be subject to the same standards as all other persons and that they turban would only have to be removed if their was a reasonable suspicion that it was being used to smuggle something into the prision. Ravinder Singh could now freely visit his client.