Delaware State Assembly has passed a resolution to proclaim April as ‘Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’, amidst increasing hate crime incidents against Indian-Americans, particularly the Sikhs, in the US. A resolution was passed unanimously by both the chambers of the State Assembly — the Senate and the House of Representatives. The move was welcomed by […]

Delaware State Assembly has passed a resolution to proclaim April as ‘Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’, amidst increasing hate crime incidents against Indian-Americans, particularly the Sikhs, in the US.
A resolution was passed unanimously by both the chambers of the State Assembly — the Senate and the House of Representatives. The move was welcomed by the State Governor, John Carney, who in a meeting with the Indian-American community assured all kind of help to the community, which he said of late has been experiencing a spate of hate crimes in the US.

“We have fear mongering going on at the national level, and stereotyping…and all of that. It is an embarrassment on America as a country,” Carney told a delegation of Indian-Americans led by local businessman and community leader Charanjeet Singh Minhas.

Such kinds of attack or vandalism are “completely unacceptable,” the Delaware Governor said.

Introduced in the State Senate by Senator Brown Townsend, the resolution said Delaware stands with the Sikh community in denouncing hate crimes directed towards any individual on account of their religious beliefs.
“Since September 11, 2001, the Sikhs are often mistaken for Taliban or followers of Al Qaida, owing to the commonality of their beards and turbans, and subjected to a disproportionately high rate of hate crimes, and Sikh boys suffer bullying at least twice the national bullying rate for other boys,” it said.

Minhas said Delaware, which has a small Sikh community as compared to the other States like California, New York and New Jersey, has taken lead in showing its solidarity with the people of this ethnic religious minority. — PTI

-Tribune