By Prem Calvin Prashad
Though people of the Sikh faith have existed in the United States for more than 130 years, post 9/11 this group has faced undue scrutiny from federal law enforcement and agencies, such as the Transportation Security Agency.
“Our relationship with law enforcement has been strained at times, especially in respects to the TSA,” noted Rajdeep Singh, Law & Policy director of the Sikh Coalition, a Sikh civil rights and advocacy organization.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice released the Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, which prevents federal authorities from using religion, sexual origin and national origin as the sole basis for investigations.
The Bush administration had previously banned profiling, but pertaining explicitly to race. However, civil liberties organizations note that the guidance still does not explicitly cover the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS, including the TSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has resisted efforts by the Department of Justice to limit their ability to profile and the TSA has insisted that it is not a law enforcement agency and not subject to these rules.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of Guru Nanak that emerged in the late 15th century in the modern-day Indian province of Punjab. There are over 25 million adherents worldwide, making it the fifth largest organized religion. Richmond Hill is home to one of the largest Sikh communities in the United States.
All baptized Sikhs are required by faith to wear a turban (dastar) and carry a few items, including a dagger called a kirpan.
One of the tenets of their faith is that hair is sacred and is not to be cut.
Hatred and violence against Sikhs stem almost entirely from their appearance, that their beards and dress marks them as members of the Muslim faith.
The pejorative “raghead,” which originated as a derogatory term for Arabs, as well as the tendency for Al Qaeda leadership to wear turbans contributes to this misconception.
Since 9/11, there has been a dramatic rise in arson against Sikh temples and hate crimes against Sikhs, including the fatal shooting of a gas station attendant, Balbir Singh Sodhi, four days after the attacks.
In August 2012, a white supremacist gunman massacred six worshippers at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc.
Last August, in Richmond Hill, a Sikh man was the victim of an allegedly racially motivated hit-and-run attack. Yearly, there are numerous incidents of violence and threats by individuals mistaking Sikhs for Muslims in New York City, generally from assailants referencing Islamic terror organizations or Osama Bin Laden, who has been dead for several years.
Bullying in schools is an ongoing issue for the Sikh community in Queens. Just as with the issues related to racial profiling, young Sikh men are particularly visible due to their articles of faith. A bullying incident at Elmhurst’s Newtown High School in 2007 resulted in a Sikh teenager having his hair forcibly shorn by another student.
This suspicion and mistrust extends even to adulthood, where the NYPD refuses to allow adherent Sikhs to become police officers. By comparison, most Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, have included turbans in police uniforms. “If law enforcement does not look like the community it serves, it may not reflect all the needs of the community,” Singh noted.
The US Army has recently allowed a few high-profile exceptions to its uniform policy for Sikh soldiers with linguistic or medical skills. Aside from agriculture, many Sikh men have served as soldiers or police, particularly for the British Empire and modern India.
Today, nearly 20 percent of the Indian Army is Sikh, despite comprising 2 percent of that country’s population.
Efforts by the Sikh Coalition to advocate against racial profiling include the development of a free app called FlyRights, which allows individuals to file official complaints against the TSA for undue stops and excessive searches at airports, as well as notify their member of Congress.
“We have asked the TSA to audit to determine whether TSA screeners are profiling minorities,” Singh said.
It is the coalition’s hope that the collection of this data will provide the basis for the TSA to improve its practices.
At some airports in the country, Sikh travelers report selection for enhanced screening “100 percent” of the time, according to Singh.
