Advocacy & Multifaith groups speak out vociferously on NY hair shearing incident
Written by WSN Bureau
Thursday, June 14, 2007
ImageQueens, New York: The recent incident pertaining to the Sikh boy's hair
being forcibly cut by a fellow-student, at Newton High Schoool, Elmhurst, Queens,
NY, came as a shock to the Sikh community. To express dismay and to convey concern
to appropriate quarters, United Sikhs, in collaboration with The Interfaith
Center of New York, organized a Multi-faith Solidarity Press Conference on June
6, 2007, in Richmond Hill, New York. More than 30 organizations from various
faiths, advocacy group/networks, got together in the wake of this event, to
show their support condemning the incident. They asked the Department of Education
to investigate, and asked the District Attorney's office to take appropriate
steps bringing the victims to justice. The emphasis: "No faith allows religion
to be used as a tool to attack other people; any such attacks should be condemned,
and must not be condoned".
The city officials who addressed the gathering included Hon'ble Helen Marshall
(Queens Borough President) and David Weprin (NYC Councilman) both gracing the
occasion to add to the vociferous of concern of the Sikh community, and to enhance
the solidarity within the community.
Tejinder Singh, Legal Advisor of United Sikhs, said: "The District Attorney
has charged Umair Ahmed with a felony and are prosecuting vigorously, the case
has been adjourned for pre-trial on 2nd of July. United Sikhs is advising the
family and closely following the case. We want to ensure that strong measures
are under-taken by the Department of Education for the safety of our kids in
schools. Schools need a systematic overhaul of the way it handles bias . "
Matt Weiner (Executive Director of Operations, The Intefaith Center of New York)
said : "Tolerance is something that is taught by all religions and helps
foster an understanding and respect among all different groups of New York City".
All speakers emphasized upon the serious nature of the incident, and also stressed
upon the urgent need to maintain peace and harmony in the community. Other prominent
community-voices heard were those of Ms Diane Barrett (Chief-of-Staff in the
office of Assemblyman Rory Lancman) Ms Rosemarie (Advisor to Queens Borough
President) Bob Kaplan (Director, Cause-NY, a division of the Jewish Community
Relations Council (JCRC) Mr George Gibson (Pres., Corona-Elmhurst Chapter of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP) Jennifer
Rapoport (Assistant Director for Anti Defamation League -ADL) Aliya Latif (Civil
Rights Coordinator for Council of American Islamic Relations-CAIR), Ms. Kathleen
Stone (Chaplain at The Tillman Chapel Church Center for the United Nations).
Sr. Malika Rushdan (Director of Youth and Community Development, Islamic Circle
of North America Relief USA (ICNA Relief USA), said: "The incident at Elmhurst
High School is not an isolated incident, immigrant minority students face harassment
and bias attacks on a daily basis. The Muslim community stands side by side
with the Sikh community, sharing a common goal of keeping all children safe
from harm. The Holy Qur'ân is very particular about freedom of conscience
as it teaches respect for everyone regardless of any differences and that is
the key to pluralism"
Dr Arthur Flug (Executive Director, Kupferberg Holocaust Resource and Archive
Center) said: "I have seen a photo in which Nazi guards were cutting the
hair of the Hassidic Jews and this incident reminded me of that picture. I am
shocked that this has happened, today, here in New York".
Mohinder Singh (American Sikh Consultative Forum, a network of 18 Sikh organizations,
within the Tri-State region) said: "We stand in solidarity with the boy
and will support him in whatever way possible".
Satkirin Kaur Khalsa, Sikh Chaplain at UN rep of 3HO.org Imam Ashraf-uz-Zaman
Khan, President. Al-Hera Islamic Institute,NY Rev Kathleen Stone, UN Church
Center
Sardarni Satkirin Kaur Khalsa (Sikh Chaplain at UN, and rep. of 3HO.org ) said: "My appearance initially was viewed very differently but as people became familiar with Sikh faith, their thoughts towards my faith changed".
Sikh members of the Queens Democratic Council, who participated and spoke were Mohinder Singh, Harjinder Singh Duggal, and Gurmej Singh briefly addressed the gathering, as did Kulraj Singh (Sikh Afghan Association.), Harpreet Singh Toor (Sikh Education Foundation), Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja (Chief-Editor, The Indian Panorama).
Others present at the solidarity event were from the Muslim Consultative Network
and Turning Point for Women & Families, David Holloway (Police Sergeant),
community leader Jagir Singh, Attorney Kuljit Singh Ahluwalia, and Gurcharanjit
Singh Lamba (Chief Editor, 'Sant-Sipahi' Amritsar, India) and Ms. Pennie Yogiraj
(Jus Punjabi TV), Guru Gobind Study Circle-NY chapter, Director, Sarabjit Singh,
and Karamvir Dahiya (Attorney). Chan Jamoona represented Hindu Cultural Council,
Rev. N. J. L'Heureux, Jr. (Executive Director, Queens Federation of Churches),
Monsignor. John H. O'Brien (Pastor, St. Benedict Joseph Labre), Roman Catholic
Diocese of Brooklyn Bishop D'Marzio (Pastor, St. Benedicts Joseph labre, and
Rector of Bishops' Diocese of Brooklyn) and Imam Ashraf-uz-Zaman Khan, President.
Al-Hera Islamic Institute,NY.
Diane Barrett, Chief of Staff Assemblyman Roray Lancman, 25th district Queens;
Jennifer Rapoport, Assistant Director ADL Mohinder Singh, Gurcharanjit Singh,(Editor
Sant Sipahi), Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja (Chief-Editor, The Indian Panorama)
Messages of solidarity received from Congressman Joseph Crowley, Rev. Bud Heckman
(Chief Development Officer, Hartford Seminary, Hartford CT and Formerly, Director
at Religions For Peace), Ms. Rori C. Picker (Acting Executive Director, Religions
for Peace-USA, NY), and Darshan Singh Bajwa (Pres., Guru Nanak Durbar, CT),
were read.
The United Sikhs team of volunteers and members constituted of Mankanwal Singh,
Sukhpreet Singh, Arvind Kaur, Jaskaran Singh and Amarjit Singh.
Last Updated on September 25, 2007