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9/11: The Sikh Response The Sikh Coalition
For the next few days, Ajeet and her friends were worried
about the Sikh community. They were concerned that Sikhs would experience
some sort of backlash. In an effort to reach out to the community, Ajeet
and a small group of her friends organized a candlelight vigil in Central
Park. It was a great success in reaching out to the public, and they
received positive media coverage. This small group of young Sikh professionals
had just accomplished the first successful task of what was to become
the Sikh Coalition. When the vigil was over, the group heard the news about
the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi. It was then that they realized how
defenseless the Sikh community was. There was a "disturbing gap"
in existing Sikh organizations in that they did not have the capability
to protect Sikhs, says Ajeet. At that time, Sikh organizations did not
have the ability to effectively liaison with legislators and media to
protect the Sikh community. One of the Sikh Coalition's first projects was to create
an online database for Sikh victims to report hate crimes. When they
examined the hits on their web site, they noticed that a large number
were from the Department of Justice. The DOJ was looking at the crime
reports that were posted on the Sikh Coalition site and confirming the
information for their own use. The Sikh Coalition joined their efforts with the Washington-based
Sikh American Association (SAA) and went to Capitol Hill. They knocked
on the doors of Congress until they could get someone to listen to their
concern about the backlash against Sikhs. Finally, someone did listen.
Like the Sikh Coalition, SAA was also formed in the weeks
following 9/11 by a group of students and young professionals, including
attorneys from the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Its mission is
to promote the Sikh identity through education, outreach and advocacy. Ajeet attributes the Coalition's success to the high level
of professionalism in running the organization. The fifteen men and
women are professionals with full-time jobs. They volunteer about forty
hours a week to do this seva for the Sikh community. Ajeet's background
is in public relations and international business negotiations. She
is presently working for a company that provides humanitarian aid to
developing countries. Although the fifteen members are spread all over
the U.S. and one in Canada, many of the key members of the Sikh Coalition
are in New York and Washington D.C. Now, a year later, Ajeet feels that 9/11 truly woke up
the Sikh community in that they are becoming more proactive. Her advice
to Sikhs is to take the opportunities to reach out to your neighbors
and educate them. When people first heard of the Sikh Coalition, they were
confused and cynical and expecting them to fizzle out, says Ajeet. "But
we're not going to fizzle out, simply because we don't want to."
She says they are very dedicated to doing this seva. It's been full
speed ahead from day one, and they never stopped to look back. The future of Sikh Coalition is promising. They now know
many persons in the media, legislature and law enforcement by their
first name. And they are still building strong alliances to help protect
the Sikh community. The Sikh Coalition is becoming a force to be reckoned
with. The Sikh Communications Council (SikhCom) In the days following 9/11, Sikhs around the country were
meeting in their living rooms to try to figure out what to do. They
all felt intensely patriotic but they also felt a growing concern as
they increasingly became targets of hate crimes. One such group was meeting at a house in Silicon Valley.
After a long debate, seven of them, including Satjiv Chahil, Jagjot
Singh, and Supreet Manchanda decided to kickoff an organization to educate
the American public about Sikhs. The people of SikhCom are high tech professionals from
the San Francisco Bay area with fifteen to twenty years of experience
each in the corporate world. They are CEOs, Managing Partners, founders
and Venture-Capitalists. The events following 9/11 brought to light the lack of
understanding about Sikhs in America. What also became evident was that
the Sikh community had never undertaken a consistent effort to educate
fellow Americans. The Sikh Communications Council (SikhCom) was formed
to solve these problems. Their mission - to educate the public about
Sikhs and to improve the overall image of Sikhs. SikhCom worked on several fronts - public relations, legal,
education and community. In its first month of operation, Sikhcom completed
more than 40 projects in these areas ranging from the management of
Public Relations at a Gurdwara event, to providing Sikh travelers with
legal materials, to producing advertisements for placement in newspapers.
When Balbir Singh Sodhi was killed, SikhCom wanted to
bring the story in front of the news media. With their extensive experience
and expertise in marketing, they were able to call several news agencies
and hundreds of reporters to get the Balbir Singh news out in the mainstream
media. 9/11 and Balbir Singh's death also activated in small
group of Sikhs in the DC area. They were having problems putting together
an advertisement about Sikhs for The Washington Post. When it looked
like they would be short of time and money, the Washington Post put
them in touch with SikhCom who were also trying to place an ad. SikhCom
made it happen. A full page advertisement called "Sikhs for America"
first appeared in The Washington Post two weeks after 9/11. The message
was of tolerance and it showed an image of Sikhs from all walks of life
- not a single donor name was listed. The ad also appeared in the San
Francisco Bay area newspapers. Next, Satjiv Singh of SikhCom and Ajeet Kaur of the Sikh
Coalition worked together to bring the story of Dr. Navinderdeep Singh
(Nijher) to Newsweek magazine and CBS News. This was probably the first
positive Sikh story in major publications. In fact, there were more
stories about Sikhs in the major news media post 9/11 than ever before. Working with SikhCom, the Wall Street Journal and the
New York Times published front-page stories on backlash issues against
Sikhs. CNN, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press covered the
meeting with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to outline civil
rights violations against Sikh travelers. SikhCom also worked with a
CNN news crew to produce a segment showing a day in the life of two
Sikh children impacted by backlash. SikhCom even worked with a Hollywood
producer to create an MTV style video called "Kuldeep." This
six minute video shows how a 17 year-old Sikh boy is just like any other
teenager in America. A segment of the video shows Kuldeep tying his
joorah and turban. This video was created to show in schools. SikhCom completed over a hundred projects in the three
months after 9/11. They arranged press conferences, coordinated advertising
and worked with politicians and lawyers to inform the public and to
protect Sikhs. They did this with the help of law firms on retainer for
corporate and legal counsel. SikhCom also hired a full-time public relations
executive, Ed Vasquez. Mr. Vasquez was the Director of Marketing at
Jagjot Singh's company, CareSoft. And even before 9/11, Ed had been
a long-time supporter and friend of the Sikhs. He worked on several
Sikh community projects over a period of ten years. Ed has been the
driving force behind all SikhCom media events, press relations, press
conferences and media coverage. SikhCom ended 2001 on a very strong note, working collaboratively
with major Sikh organizations such as SMART, Sikh Coalition, SCORE,
SikhNet, Sikh.org and other groups on issues impacting the Sikh community
such as turban removal at airports, hate crimes legislation, and media
advisories. The common theme that ran through these projects was to
promote a professional, consistent and positive Sikh image. By February, SikhCom had fulfilled their goal for the
moment and things became a little less hectic. The group shifted their
emphasis to project-based work and focused on picking up projects, perhaps
one or two, that would produce high profile and high quality images
of Sikhs. One such project was the Sikh Awareness Tour of Dr. Navinderdeep
Singh (Nijher), the first doctor at ground zero on 9/11. The idea was
to have Dr. Nijher visit ten cities across the U.S. to help educate
Americans about the Sikh image and values. And with media coverage,
help diffuse any hate and/or backlash that may arise near the 9/11 anniversary. So are we now fully prepared to respond quickly in case
of another backlash? Jagjot Singh doesn't think so. Even with all the
great effort of the Sikh community and Sikh organizations, there is
no system in place to handle such a crisis effectively. What it would
take, says Jagjot, is a response network of Sikhs around the country.
This can only be accomplished by a full time professional organization
funded by the Sikh community and dedicated to handle Sikh issues. The
function of this organization would be complementary to that of Gurdwaras.
On an individual level, Sikhs can do a lot. "Do more,
speak less," says Jagjot. Pick a project, a small project, any
project for outreach to the community. "Talk to people. But don't
kid around about your culture or your turban. If you take it [your image]
seriously, then others will take you seriously. This is just another
battle Sikhs have to fight. It is a media battle, one of perception.
We can do it if we remain in chardi kalaa." The Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART)
SMART was formed in 1996 in response to misrepresentation
and stereotyping of Sikhs in the media. The original intention of SMART
was to be a media watchdog and a source of authentic and accurate information
about Sikhs. After 9/11, their functions increased. SMART initially responded to the 9/11 tragedy by getting
the community activated - getting Sikhs involved in local events, collecting
donations, and giving blood. They also urged Gurdwaras to hold special
divaans in memory of the victims. Then, as the backlash increased, SMART sent out alerts
of discrimination and urged victims to report attacks. The first incident
of turban removal was reported to SMART on October 1st at the Albany
International Airport. SMART, in collaboration with the Sikh Coalition,
SikhCom and SCORE, met with the Department of Justice, the FBI and the
Department of Transportation about the illegality of forcefully removing
a turban. They then went back to Albany International Airport for sensitivity
training of airport personal. SMART also created pamphlets called, "Your
rights as an airline passenger" and "Who are the Sikhs,"
to aid and prepare the Sikh community and the non-Sikh community. SMART was then invited by other government agencies to
give presentations about Sikhs and hate crimes, and to give sensitivity
training. Most of the government agencies were receptive to their recommendations
on backlash and discrimination. The DOJ and the FBI, however, rarely
implemented their recommendations because of policy at the top levels
of these organizations. Since 9/11, Manjit Singh finds that more of the Sikh community
is aware about their rights, and they know terms like racial profiling,
hate crimes, and discrimination - but only to an extent. He feels that
Sikhs need to educate themselves further. One year later, SMART's work has increased 10 times that
of before 9/11. They now have two full-time employees and a handful
of professionals and students who volunteer their time to educate the
Sikh community, inform elected officials and government agencies, develop
printed material to empower the Sikh community, and analyze public policy.
Yet, even with all this effort, Manjit Singh feels that
Sikhs are not prepared for another 9/11. We need to build a better infrastructure
for a more organized response. And that requires resources - money and
manpower. Discrimination is a long-term problem and it will take
a concerted and committed effort to overcome it. Manjit says this has
to be done on an individual basis by being educated and informed about
your rights, being active in your local community (PTA, city council)
and giving back to your local community - participate in run-a-thons,
disaster relief efforts, Thanksgiving food drives or any kind of help
for the needy. It may take ten years to overcome discrimination, but it can happen. "Do it because it is the Sikh way of life, and everything will follow naturally." |
On
9/11, Ajeet Kaur was working on the 80th floor of one of the twin towers
when first plane hit. She and her collegues fortunately ran out to safety.
It was an incredible sight, she remembers. 
For
two weeks after 9/11, the phone would not stop ringing, recalls Manjit
Singh of SMART. The bill for their 800 number was quite high that month.
Sikhs were calling to find out what was going on in the community and
how to respond effectively.