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Personal Stories of Backlash Over the past year, the Sikh community received a disproportionate
number of backlash incidences and hate crimes. Sikh men were especially
targeted because of their turbans and long beards, but the women did
not escape the abuse either. Even children endured hate crimes from
their friends and classmates. The backlash against the Sikh community took a turn for
the worse with the shooting death of Balbir Singh Sodhi on 9/15. Across
the country, Sikhs were victims of drive-by shootings and physical assault.
Some, like Tejinder Singh and his brother, were chased with baseball
bats in Queens, NY. Others faced problems on the roads as people tried
to run them off the highways. Many had objects thrown at them. Most
endured verbal abuse and threats. Looking back, these Sikhs, when asked if they would remove
their turban or cut their hair to avoid discrimination say that thought
never even occurred to them - never. Professional Discrimination… Taranjit Singh is one of those Sikhs. On 9/11, Taranjit
was working as a resident at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, one of
the top hospitals in the country. Around noon that day, he was called
into the director's office, asked to get his car keys and bag, and escorted
out of the hospital by two security guards. He was not given any written
notice nor was he given a reason. Later that evening, the Cleveland
Gurdwara was attacked. In the days ahead Taranjit learned that he was being accused
of inappropriate behavior - rejoicing in the moments after 9/11. The
complaint was made by nurses he did not know, who happened to see him
talking to a colleague in a foreign language about a totally unrelated
matter. He was put through a thorough investigation by the campus police
and the FBI who interrogated him and falsely accused him of calling
a bomb hoax. The colleague that Taranjit was talking to was ordered
by the hospital to stay away from him. Taranjit Singh was terminated one week after 9/11. He
was stalked and harassed by an investigative reporter from the local
NBC station, owned by the hospital. The reporter would even harass the
Sikh community to find Taranjit's whereabouts. Rumors were flying in
this city that a doctor was caught "celebrating" after 9/11
and handed over to the FBI and INS. The local newspaper ran a story
of a resident doctor who was fired. On CNN.com, people were writing
to the chat group that the doctor should be thrown out of the country
or killed. Both the hospital and the media, however, were inconsistent
is their stories. They could not get their facts straight. Meanwhile, Taranjit was out of a job. Although he was
told by his program coordinator that they would help him find another
residency, but he discovered that they were writing about the accusations
in their letter of recommendation everywhere he applied. Taranjit he
was only able to get a job as a researcher. Cleveland's Sikh community supported Taranjit and tried
to protect him during this ordeal. The only non-Sikh person to publicly
support Taranjit was Congressman Tom Sawyer who recognized that the
accusations had no merit and presented the case before Congress in November.
On August 27, the EOC finished its investigation and found
insufficient evidence to support the charges of the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation hospital. They went further by stating that Taranjit Singh
was discriminated against because he was a Sikh, he was "wrongly
accused" by the hospital, and that the hospital provided the media
with false information. Taranjit Singh and the EOC are expected to seek damages
from the hospital, but it is not the money Taranjit wants. All he wants
is a public apology from the hospital. Almost a year after 9/11, Taranjit finally got another residency. His case, however, is still pending. Turban Discrimination … Turban-removal incidents at airports were rampant post 9/11. Sikh men
were asked by airport security to take off their turbans in public.
Airport profiling meant being detained, searched, and questioned far
more often than other air travelers. Many who refused to remove their
turbans missed their flights, were talk to rudely by airport security,
and humiliated in public. In October, a young pregnant Sikh woman at the San Jose airport, Sanjog
Kaur, passed through the security check without a problem but her 2-year-old
son beeped. The toddler was forced to remove his patka without first
having his joorah patted down. By Thanksgiving, Sikh organizations worked with the FAA to distribute
a legal memorandum on the rights of traveling Sikhs to the entire aviation
industry. But even as late as July, a turban removal incident occurred at LAX
to a young Sikh man who was born and brought up in this country. Kulmeet
Singh was waiting in line at LAX when the terminal was evacuated because
of a bomb threat. People started staring at him. Everyone was on edge. When they were allowed back to the terminal, Kulmeet proceeded through
the security check without any problem. No buzz, no beep. He was asked
to step aside anyway. Kulmeet allowed them to wand him and to pat him
down, but he was still asked to remove his turban. As he was informing them about the FAA guidelines, the security person
became belligerent and insisted that he remove his turban. Kulmeet asked
to speak to his supervisor and then another supervisor, but they would
not budge. Finally, they agreed to let him remove his turban in another
room. Kulmeet unwrapped and then wrapped his turban. The security people
did not check anything. Kulmeet felt publically humiliated by the incident. People avoided
him and stared at him. He says it left a bad impression with the people
at the airport about Sikhs. One passenger even alerted security in Kansas
City, his destination, but his American accent saved him there. Kulmeet filed a complaint with the FAA's civil rights department. He is still waiting for them to take some action. |