SGPC sends protest letter to US Ambassador Mulford
3 Jul 2008, 1532 Hrs

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Amritsar July 3 (ANI): Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee, the governing body of the Sikhs, has sent a letter to the U.S Ambassador to India David Mulford concerning various incidents that occurred recently in the U.S against Sikhs. The body has also sent a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. There were news reports recent that a Sikh truck driver in New York was arrested for wearing a Kirpan and his turban "forcibly" removed while he was entering a Connecticut court to contest a traffic violation charge, a community advocacy group pointed out on Tuesday. "The incident occurred on June 18 while 47-year-old Sachdev Singh was passing through security at the Connecticut State Superior Court," the group stated in the letter. "In another incident a 12-year- old Sikh a fellow student cut girl Gurprit Kaur's hair on June 9 in a school in Flushing in Queens suburb of New York City," it added. Expressing deep concern over the issues, the SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar in his letter to Dr. Manmohan Singh and the US Ambassador stated that it was quite unfortunate that attacks on Sikh identity were continuing unabated in different corners of the world. It is happening despite the best efforts of their missions aboard and Sikh diaspora to bring about an awareness among the world community that Kirpan (small sword), hair and turban are among the essential of Sikh faith.

He requested that the U.S Government should take a serious view of such sensitive incidents and create sufficient awareness among all authorities in the U.S about the religious symbols of Sikhs. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)