Sikhs and Prejudice

Maan S. Khalsa

CreditThe Sikh Coalition

As recent as last September attacks were happening to Sikhs. This attack on Maan S. Khalasa, in the United States, was fueled by ignorance and opportunity. He was “violently targeted” because of his faith (Mele). The attack happened at a red light, after two men threw beer cans at Mr. Khalsa’s vehicle, then ultimately followed him to a second red light where they further attacked him, stabbed him, and cut 10 inches of his hair. The men singled out Mr. Khalsa because of the way he looks, most likely confusing him with a Muslim. The political environment at the end of 2016 fueled several attacks on Sikh followers. This particular incident was labeled a hate crime because of “the savage cutting of Mr. Khalsa’s unshorn hair, a sacred article of his faith, constitutes a hate crime under the law” (Mele).

Germany Attack

However, these attacks do not just occur in the U.S. The Sikhs often find themselves at the receiving end of attacks from Islamic fundamentalist terrorists as well. In Germany, two teens who self-identified as having links to terrorism, bombed a Sikh temple. The police chief in Germany said,"The accused have clear links to the terrorist scene" ("Teen 'Salafists' Arrested Over Bomb Attack On Sikh Temple").The teenagers did not have links to ISIS, but they do have known ties to the Salafist movement, which is an off shoot terrorist group. The attacks in Germany are expected to continue as the DPA security chief advised in January 2017, “Overall, the number of Salafists - or fundamentalist Sunni Muslims - in Germany has risen to more than 9,700, sharply up from 3,800 people in 2011” ("Germany's Islamist Scene Growing: Security Chief"). These attacks are purely religious in motivation, it is discriminatory; however, it is not pure hate and discrimination as the attack that took place in the U.S. (above).

Ignorance. This is the main reason these attacks occur. Education and the spreading of education is one of the best ways to combat ignorance. People need to know about Sikhism, they need to know and understand the peacefulness within Sikhism, and that they do not and have not sponsor terrorism. They need to be informed about how they were the first to fight in WWI and WWII, they need to know that the Sikhs are as often, if not more often, victims of terrorism themselves. You cannot change someone's mind about what they believe through force, you have to show them and put irrefutable evidence in front of them.




References

"Germany's Islamist Scene Growing: Security Chief". Thelocal.de. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Feb. 2017. https://www.thelocal.de/20170109/germanys-islamist-scene-growing-security-chief


"Teen 'Slafists' Arrested Over Bomb Attack On Sikh Temple". Thelocal.de. N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Feb. 2017. https://www.thelocal.de/20160421/sikh-temple-bomb-attack-salafists-arrested-police


Mele, Christopher. "2 Face Hate Crime Charges in Attack on Sikh Man in California." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017. <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/us/hate-crime-charges-in-attack-on-sikh-man-in-california.html?_r=0>.