Washington, D.C., February 2, 2007 — On January 25 2007, Mr. Sanjum Paul Singh Samagh, a first year medical school student at the University of California – Irvine Medical School (UCI SOM), was denied entrance to the Pierce Street Annex in Costa Mesa, California, because his religiously mandated head-covering, called a dastaar (or turban), violated the business’s “no hat’s” policy. Mr. Samagh entered the Pierce Street Annex to join his medical school classmates in celebrating another classmate’s birthday. When trying to gain entrance to the establishment, the security guard noted that Mr. Samagh was wearing a religious head covering, and that it would not be a problem, but advised that he speak to the owner. The owner, Mr. Douglas Adsit, then informed Mr. Samagh that the Pierce Street Annex does not allow entry to anyone wearing “headgear” and denied him entry. After hearing the stance of Mr. Adsit, the group of 20 students whom Mr. Asagh was supposed to meet, left the establishment and moved the celebration to another location. In a show of solidarity, the UCI SOM first and second year students have formally implemented a boycott against any medical school functions being held at the Pierce Street Annex until this issue is resolved to the satisfaction of Mr. Samagh. In response to this incident, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) noted in a January 27, 2007 letter to Mr. Adsit, “The Sikh turban is a fundamental and integral part of a Sikh’s identity. It is not a hat or cap that can be removed and put on casually. The turban is a religious article of faith which has been protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as Federal and State courts across the country.” “Business’ whose “no hats” policies do not allow for religious accommodation are in violation of the Freedom of Expression doctrine in the United States Constitution,” stated SALDEF Western Regional Director Kavneet Singh. “Such acts are blatantly discriminatory by nature and seek to denigrate not only the 500,000 Sikh Americans but also our brothers and sisters in other faith communities who wear religious head-coverings as part of their beliefs.”
Costa Mesa Restaurant Denies Entry to Sikh American Man Due to his Religious Affiliation
SALDEF Contacts Law Enforcement Officials Demanding Swift and Thorough Action Washington, DC – On December 22, 2005, the members of Guru Angad Darbar Gurdwara (place of congregational worship), located in Bakersfield, CA, awoke to find two pig heads thrown in front of the Gurdwara. Additionally, a week and a half prior to this incident, eggs were thrown at the Gurdwara building as well. These unfortunate incidents are not an uncommon experience for Sikhs across the country. Three days later on Christmas morning, a Sikh American cab driver, Gurpartap Singh of El Sobrante, was fatally shot as he dropped off his fare in Richmond, CA. The tragic shooting of this innocent Sikh is unfortunately not the first incident of its kind in the East Bay. On July 2, 2003 a 23 year old gentleman, Gurpreet Singh, was also murdered as he drove his taxicab. Additionally, on July 5, 2003 another Sikh man, Inderjit Singh was shot at point blank range while picking up a fare in a similar location to the shooting of Gupreet Singh just three days earlier. Following those incidents in 2003, The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), worked with local law enforcement and civic officials to address the concerns of the Sikh community and the cab drivers. On December 30, 2005, SALDEF spoke with Bakersfield Police Chief Bill Rector about the case and received a progress update on the investigation. The Bakersfield PD has taken this case very seriously, and besides having some strong leads in the case, they also are ensuring that they investigate thoroughly to determine a motive. Additionally, SALDEF has contacted the Police Chief, Mayor and City Attorney of Richmond to express our outrage at the incident and to insure that a full investigation is conducted to ensure what if motive of the crime was indeed bias related. These incidents, along with many other violent crimes against Sikhs in the Bay Area, have caused significant distress and increased a sense of concern among the Sikh community in regards to the safety of themselves and their families. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Sikh Americans have a tremendous increase in hate crimes. FBI statistics show that the number of post-9/11 hate crimes increased three fold from 2001 to 2004. Sikh American Cab drivers and convenience store clerks are particularly vulnerable due to their heightened exposure and high-risk employment. SALDEF offers our condolences to the family of Gurpartap Singh and ask that the entire Sikh American community keep them in your prayers, especially during the holiday season. Additionally, a trust is being set up for Sukhvinder Kaur – Gurpratap Singhs’ widow. While specifics are not yet available, anyone interested in donating to this fund should contact SALDEF at: info@saldef.org to do so. If you or anyone you know becomes the victim of a hate incident, please report it immediately to SALDEF at: info@saldef.org or by reporting it on our website. SALDEF has strong working relationships with law enforcement agencies across the nation and will ensure that the appropriate agency is notified of the incident. You can also contact SALDEF at 202-393-2700. To help the community better respond to an incident, SALDEF has developed the Know What To Do Guide; a handy pocket guide that details the steps that should be taken in the event of a hate crime, discrimination in the workplace, or racial profiling, and states your rights as an airline passenger. Please print and distribute the pocket guide at your local Gurdwara, as well as to your local community, family and friends. To order the pocket guides from SALDEF, please send an email to: education@saldef.org.
The Applied Research Center invites you to be part of the California Racial Equity Initiative, a statewide effort to advance a vision of racial justice that focuses on racial equity outcomes, strives for equity, enfranchisement and economic justice for all, invests in opportunity and advancement, and strengthens protections against racial violence, racial profiling, and discrimination. CREI’s efforts include: * Advancing a proactive racial justice agenda that benefits communities of color and low-income communities, counters the ongoing curtailment of civil rights and promotes racial equity; * Building a racial justice alliance among civil rights, immigrant rights, religious, labor, and community organizations, and * Developing an inventory of model racial justice polices and political action tools that can be used to hold decision makers accountable to racial equity principles. Help Advance Racial Justice in California 1. Endorse The California Racial Equity Pledge 2. Use the California’s New Majority 2004 Legislative Report Card On Race to assess your state decision makers commitment to racial justice legislation
By Scott Wong, STAFF WRITER, The Daily Review FREMONT — Almost no one had heard of Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Homaira Hosseini, an Irvington High School senior whose family emigrated from the war-torn country when she was only 2. Afterward, no one could ignore it. “A tragic event on Sept. 11 changed my future, my present, my identity,” Hosseini, 17, told a stunningly quiet room of more than 200 community members at “Our Community: Who Belongs?” an anti-hate forum at the high school Thursday night. “After Sept. 11, I got a lot of looks and experienced biases and prejudices.” Hosseini, whose family is Muslim, was one of a handful of speakers who shared personal testimony about how local Muslims, Sikhs and other “vulnerable and victimized” minorities have been subjected to things such as name-calling, eggings and other abuse in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I am an Afghan and a Muslim and an American,” said Hosseini, who noted that Fremont is home to the largest number of Afghans living outside Afghanistan. “It’s not a paradox, but it’s sometimes treated as such.” Among those who joined in self-affirming chants of “We all belong” were City Council members, police chiefs, county supervisors, state Assembly members past and present, school board members, educators and other civic, ethnic and religious leaders from throughout the area. Most came to hear the keynote speaker, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who as a state senator 15 years ago wrote the first felony hate crime law in the nation. But Debbi Pearson, a 44-year Mission San Jose resident, might have said it best: “The people who needed to hear the message most weren’t here.” Lockyer, a Democrat and a possible 2006 gubernatorial candidate, warned the audience about misdirected hostility. “It’s OK to be angry about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,” he said. “But direct that at the people who carried it out, not the people who are here to enjoy these freedoms.” Kavneet Singh, Western regional director for the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the nation’s oldest Sikh civil rights and education advocacy group, said it is critical that Americans take the next step in the war on racial and religious bigotry. “As a community, we need to continue to fight to move beyond tolerance,” said Singh, who added that there are about a half-million Sikhs living in the United States today. “It’s not just our responsibility to tolerate but to accept.” From physical attacks and racial slurs to less subtle prejudices, such as compliments on their English, all burn themselves into the minds of victims, one speaker shared. “Such comments may seem rare,” said Owais Mahesri, 17, an Irvington senior who was born in the United States and is Muslim. “But they happen, they exist and they hurt.” Despite the fact that about six hate crimes still occur in the state each day, Lockyer said he is optimistic about the future. “It’s important that we be mindful that we virtually all are immigrants here,” Lockyer said. “For three centuries, we skimmed the planet and brought its risk-takers to this place. “This is the first place on the planet where the fundamental policy has been, ‘Everybody counts, every voice matters.'”
Fremont, CA— A community forum will be held in Fremont next week to discuss issues affecting minorities in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq. The keynote address for the evening will be delivered by California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) encourage community members to attend the forum, which will be held on Thursday evening, March 10th (details below). A SALDEF representative will also make a presentation at the event. Entitled Our Community: Who Belongs, the forum hopes to bring community members together to nurture solidarity against all hateful speech and acts, and in particular against those directed against Muslims and Sikhs. Attorney General Lockyer has been a leader on hate crimes legislation, advocating successfully for the first felony hate crime law in the nation in 1991 when he was a California state legislator. More recently, he opened the Office of Immigrant Assistance, created a Civil Rights Unit, and established Rapid Response Protocols for hate crimes. Lockyer also has also been a champion of religious freedom, supporting Sikhs’ right to wear their articles of faith in public places. This forum is being organized by an ad-hoc committee of groups. The committee urges all concerned community members to attend this event and further collaborate to address hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents. SALDEF, the oldest national Sikh American civil rights organization (formerly known as SMART), has worked with numerous families throughout Northern California over the past several years, who have been affected by crimes motivated by hate and bias. If you have any questions about this vigil, please email SALDEF at info@saldef or call 202-393-2700 Ext. 29. WHEN: Thursday, March 10, 2005 TIME: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. WHERE: Irvington High School 41800 Blacow Rd. Fremont, CA 94538 Please forward this message to your contacts in the Bay Area and post it at your local Gurdwara(s). ### END ###
SALDEF Joins Other Community Organizations to Show Support Concord, CA — Over 150 Bay Area community members came together Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil held to support the Anands, a Sikh American family residing in Concord, who had their home robbed and burned down in a confirmed act of arson on September 5, 2004. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest national Sikh American civil rights organization formerly known as SMART, has been working with the Anand family and other groups since learning about these crimes. “Thank you all for coming tonight to this vigil,” said Jasleen Anand, one of five children in the Anand Family. “Your being here goes a long way in helping us heal and move on with our lives knowing that this community is a safe community and neighbors support each other.” This vigil was being organized by “The Justice for the Anand Family Coalition,” a coalition of legal and civil rights organizations comprised of SALDEF, the Asian Law Caucus, API Legal Outreach, the South Asian Bar Association (SABA) and Narika. The Anand family and this coalition believes these crimes were motivated by hate. While the events have been fully investigated and the suspect identified, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has not yet filed any charges. “The Anand family has lost everything in this tragedy”, stated Malcolm Yueng an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus. “We must support the Anands by demanding that the Contra Costa County District Attorney move forward with the arson charges. The Justice for the Anand Family Coalition is working with the community to ensure that this happens. SALDEF has played an instrumental role in connecting our coalition with the Sikh and South Asian community in the East Bay.” SALDEF urges all concerned community members to support the Anand Family by signing an online petition urging District Attorney Robert Kochly to file charges against the suspect. If you have any questions about this vigil, please email SALDEF at info@saldef.org or call 202-393-2700, Ext. 29.
Bay Area Residents Encouraged to Attend Next Week Concord, CA—A candlelight vigil will be held to show support for the Anands, a Sikh American family residing in Concord, who had their home robbed and burned down in a confirmed act of arson in September. Community members are encouraged to sign a petition and attend the vigil, which will be held on the evening of Wednesday, November 17 (details below). This vigil is being organized by “The Justice for the Anand Family Coalition,” a coalition of legal and civil rights organizations comprised of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Asian Law Caucus, the South Asian Bar Association (SABA) and Narika. The Anand family and this coalition believes these crimes were motivated by hate. While the events have been investigated and the suspect identified, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has not yet filed any charges. The vigil also presents the coalition an opportunity to update the community and the media about the status is this case. The coalition urges all concerned community members to attend this event and show support for the Anand family. SALDEF, the oldest national Sikh American civil rights organization (formerly known as SMART), has been working with the Anand family since learning about these crimes. If you have any questions about this vigil, please email SALDEF at info@saldef.org or call 202-393-2700 Ext. 29. WHEN: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 TIME: 7:30 – 830 p.m. WHERE: 1356 Babel Lane (the site of the Anand Family’s burned home) Concord, California
Recently, SALDEF participated at the Applied Research Center’s (ARC) Race and Public Policy Conference entitled: A Proactive Agenda for 2005 and Beyond. SALDEF’s Western Regional Director Kavneet Singh addressed conference attendees at the University of California, Berkeley about the effects that Hate Crimes and racial profiling have had on the Sikh community as well as the struggle within the Sikh community in ensuring one’s right to practice their faith in a post 9/11 world. Joining Mr. Singh on the panel were Camilo Perez-Bustillo, American Friends Service Committee/Project Voice; Ban Al-Wardi, Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, Los Angeles/Orange County Chapter; Esmeralda Simmons, Applied Research Center Board member and Director of the Medgar Evers Center for Law & Social Justice.
CONCORD – A network of legal advocacy groups launched a public-pressure campaign this week urging prosecutors to charge a man with the September arson of a Sikh family’s home. “We believe race was a motivating factor. To what degree, it’s hard to say,” said attorney Edwin Prather, who represents the Anand family. “I think it’s safe to say his anger toward the Anands was a primary motivating factor.” Mark Peterson, a deputy Contra Costa district attorney and also a Concord City Council member, said Tuesday that investigators could not prove that 39-year-old Gregg Ogan set the fire on Babel Lane on Sept. 5 or that he committed a hate crime. “There was not sufficient evidence to file criminal charges. That was the conclusion after we reviewed the case initially,” Peterson said. “Now we’re investigating some evidence that (the Anand family’s attorney) has submitted.” Prather agreed that the case does not meet the legal definition of a hate crime, but a coalition including the South Asian Bar Association, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, and the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund wants prosecutors to file arson and burglary charges. The advocacy groups have organized a candlelight vigil in front of the Anands’ house, at 1356 Babel Lane, at 7:30 p.m. today, as well as a letter-writing campaign that so far has generated about 100 letters urging the District Attorney’s Office to file charges against Ogan, Prather said. Ogan appeared in court in an unrelated criminal case Tuesday. He could not be reached at County Jail in Richmond to answer an interview request. The Anands say Ogan appeared on their doorstep Sept. 3. He said he was helping a neighbor move but that utilities to the neighbor’s home were cut off, they say. The Anands cooked for him and offered him use of their phone for the next two days, but they soon became wary of his loitering around and some of his comments that they felt were racially offensive, Prather said. When he showed up Sept. 5, Gurcharanjeet Singh Anand told Ogan that the family had no time to help that morning because they were going to temple. Ogan appeared angry, Prather said. Half an hour later, someone called Anand to tell him his house was on fire. Police and fire investigators found that the house had been burglarized and a fire deliberately set in more than one place. An enclosed shrine in the back yard was also burglarized and vandalized, Prather said. “We lost everything. Everything we’ve had since we came to this country 22 years ago burned. It shattered our life,” Anand said Tuesday. “I am not still young any more. I have a heart condition. … It’s not so easy to start over.” Concord police arrested Ogan on Sept. 6 a few blocks from the arson scene. Officers responding to a report of a suspicious person hanging around the neighborhood stopped him, according to police reports. Police found methamphetamine on Ogan and, on the side of a nearby house, spotted a plastic trash bag containing items reported missing from the Anand house, according to the reports. The Anands and their five children now live in temporary housing while they wait for repairs to their home of 14 years. Peterson said his office would probably make a decision about whether to file related charges against Ogan in the next two weeks.
A Sikh American woman, “Ms. Kaur,” and her 70-year-old mother were recently harassed by a security officer at an immigration office in California. The incident occurred when her mother removed her kirpan (Sikh religious sword) to hand over to the security officer before passing through security. The security officer refused to let them put the kirpan in their car and accused them of bringing a weapon to an INS office. The officer stated, “You should be thankful that I am letting your mom go home and not putting her in jail for five years. I am denying your entry to INS office today. You can come some other day but not today.” Ms. Kaur and her mother felt threatened when the officer stated, “Do not say a word otherwise I will put your mom in jail for five years.” Ms. Kaur contacted Kavneet Singh, Western Regional Director of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART) about her experience. SMART raised concerns about this incident and the behavior of the security officer at the most recent Inter-Agency meeting facilitated by R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. SMART has been an active participant in this group which brings together officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, Department of State and other federal agencies. At the meeting, representatives from the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suggested that Ms. Kaur file a formal complaint against the security officer. SMART worked with the DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and assisted Ms. Kaur in filing a complaint. The complaint is currently being investigated. Please contact SMART if you or anyone you know have encountered a similar incident or experienced any other violations of your civil rights.