Hate crime heat on US Sikh attacker

[Ray]

Hate crime heat on US Sikh attacker

New York, April 20 (PTI): A 20-year-old man, accused of pulling the beard of a Sikh professor in the US, has been arrested and charged with hate crime for the brutal assault during which the attackers called Prabhjot Singh "Osama" and "terrorist".

Christian Morales was arrested on Friday night and charged with aggravated harassment and committing a hate crime in connection with the attack on Singh, a professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Morales was produced in court yesterday.

While the investigation is still ongoing, he is the only person in custody, the New York police department said.

Singh, 31, was assaulted last September by a group of 20-30 young men while he was walking in the Harlem neighbourhood.

The father of one had been "brutally attacked" and was rushed to the hospital with severe bruising, swelling, small puncture in his elbow and fracture in his lower jaw.

Hate crime heat on US Sikh attacker

*************************************************

When will the Americans learn that a Sikh is not a Muslim.

In fact, since the Americans will never learn, the Sikh in America should not have free flowing beard and instead use Fixo or beard net like that lawyer chap Tulsi.

It will differentiate them as also not present such an aggressive demeanour which a free- flowing long beard flying askew in the wind projects.

 

[Glint]

Most Americans aren't like that. I've asked many of them and they joke around about terrorists and Sikhs but nothing this serious.

This is one of the rare cases about morons who cannot differentiate between Sikh and Terrorists. The guy was most probably drunk or on drugs, or they were just as$holes.

The Sikhs don't need to wear anything to hide their beard. Its just some idiots.1 in a 1000 come up with stuff like that, who have nothing better to do in their life and probably are losers.

 

[JMM99]

@Ray and @Glint,

Prabhjot Singh is a remarkably forgiving person; and while unassuming, deserves his family name of "Lion". Here is his take on the attack, Harlem hate crime victim Prabhjot Singh: I'm feeling gratitude (by Prabhjot Singh, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, September 24, 2013):

My wife and I have no intention to move. We have loved spending the last few years in this vibrant and friendly area, and our experiences here have been largely positive. Even more important to me than my attackers being caught is that they are taught.

People keep asking me what it feels like to have been assaulted in a hate crime. Honestly, I can't come up with a better response than simply "gratitude."

I'm thankful for a few reasons. If they had attacked me any more violently, I may not be awake right now to tell my story. If they had attacked me even half an hour earlier, they would have harmed my wife and one-year-old son. And if they had attacked me anywhere else, I may not have had bystanders there to save me.

I recall my assailants shouting slurs like "Osama" and "terrorist" before grabbing my beard. My most vivid and unexpected memory actually occurred after I was punched and thrown to the ground. I remember lying on the ground, waiting for their kicks and punches to stop.

Yes, it is true that my assailants fractured my jaw and dislodged some of my teeth while shouting slurs at me. Yet, I understand that it could have been much worse. I am a resident physician in East Harlem, Manhattan, and I've seen the kind of damage people can inflict when inspired by hate. So I consider myself to be extremely fortunate. ... (much more in article)

There is also an accompanying NYDN news article, Sikh Columbia professor wants to educate his attackers in possible hate crime. Both articles include a surveillance video showing the location and a pack of bicyclists exiting North Central Park.

The location, Lenox Avenue and 110th Street, is shown on this Google map of Central Park North, just South of the "Park View" - you can see the bicycle path to the right of the Lenox Avenue entrance into Central Park. Based on the size and youth of the pack (25-30 punks), my opinion is that Singh was attacked by a group out on a "wilding". That activity was made famous (and infamous) by the Central Park Jogger case, which was a police and judicial cockup - see NYDN reprint of its 1989 article, Park Marauders call it: 'WILDING'; and Ken Burns, The Central Park Five. Frankly, when I lived in NYC in 1968-1969, I would not have walked through Lenox and 110th at night.

My opinion is that Dr Singh was more a "target of opportunity" than anything else; but obviously the "anyone with a turban and beard is a Muslim terrorist" was a factor (I'd say more an excuse) to the punks who took out their "wilding" on him.

There have been very definite "hate crimes" perpetrated on Sikhs. The worst of them was the Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Oak Creek (about 6 hours South of where I live) is the last place one would expect six murders at a temple. The perp shot himself, which was the only good thing one could say about that event.

One must realize that the American Sikhs, born and raised here, are very much assimilated in many cases; as this AP article on Amar Kaleka graphically illustrates, Son of slain Sikh to challenge Ryan.

Regards

Mike

 

[Glint]

@Ray and @Glint,

Prabhjot Singh is a remarkably forgiving person; and while unassuming, deserves his family name of "Lion". Here is his take on the attack, Harlem hate crime victim Prabhjot Singh: I'm feeling gratitude (by Prabhjot Singh, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, September 24, 2013):

Regards

Mike

Thanks a lot for the info Mike, Really appreciate your effort.

 

[Ray]

@Ray and @Glint,

Prabhjot Singh is a remarkably forgiving person; and while unassuming, deserves his family name of "Lion". Here is his take on the attack, Harlem hate crime victim Prabhjot Singh: I'm feeling gratitude (by Prabhjot Singh, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, September 24, 2013):



There is also an accompanying NYDN news article, Sikh Columbia professor wants to educate his attackers in possible hate crime. Both articles include a surveillance video showing the location and a pack of bicyclists exiting North Central Park.

The location, Lenox Avenue and 110th Street, is shown on this Google map of Central Park North, just South of the "Park View" - you can see the bicycle path to the right of the Lenox Avenue entrance into Central Park. Based on the size and youth of the pack (25-30 punks), my opinion is that Singh was attacked by a group out on a "wilding". That activity was made famous (and infamous) by the Central Park Jogger case, which was a police and judicial cockup - see NYDN reprint of its 1989 article, Park Marauders call it: 'WILDING'; and Ken Burns, The Central Park Five. Frankly, when I lived in NYC in 1968-1969, I would not have walked through Lenox and 110th at night.

My opinion is that Dr Singh was more a "target of opportunity" than anything else; but obviously the "anyone with a turban and beard is a Muslim terrorist" was a factor (I'd say more an excuse) to the punks who took out their "wilding" on him.

There have been very definite "hate crimes" perpetrated on Sikhs. The worst of them was the Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Oak Creek (about 6 hours South of where I live) is the last place one would expect six murders at a temple. The perp shot himself, which was the only good thing one could say about that event.

One must realize that the American Sikhs, born and raised here, are very much assimilated in many cases; as this AP article on Amar Kaleka graphically illustrates, Son of slain Sikh to challenge Ryan.

Regards

Mike

Mike,

No offence meant.

Americans require to bone up on the world and the peoples.

Even Abe Lincoln had a beard!

Was he a crypto Muslim or a Sikh without the hair on his head?

 

[Ray]

@Ray and @Glint,

Prabhjot Singh is a remarkably forgiving person; and while unassuming, deserves his family name of "Lion". Here is his take on the attack, Harlem hate crime victim Prabhjot Singh: I'm feeling gratitude (by Prabhjot Singh, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, September 24, 2013):



There is also an accompanying NYDN news article, Sikh Columbia professor wants to educate his attackers in possible hate crime. Both articles include a surveillance video showing the location and a pack of bicyclists exiting North Central Park.

The location, Lenox Avenue and 110th Street, is shown on this Google map of Central Park North, just South of the "Park View" - you can see the bicycle path to the right of the Lenox Avenue entrance into Central Park. Based on the size and youth of the pack (25-30 punks), my opinion is that Singh was attacked by a group out on a "wilding". That activity was made famous (and infamous) by the Central Park Jogger case, which was a police and judicial cockup - see NYDN reprint of its 1989 article, Park Marauders call it: 'WILDING'; and Ken Burns, The Central Park Five. Frankly, when I lived in NYC in 1968-1969, I would not have walked through Lenox and 110th at night.

My opinion is that Dr Singh was more a "target of opportunity" than anything else; but obviously the "anyone with a turban and beard is a Muslim terrorist" was a factor (I'd say more an excuse) to the punks who took out their "wilding" on him.

There have been very definite "hate crimes" perpetrated on Sikhs. The worst of them was the Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Oak Creek (about 6 hours South of where I live) is the last place one would expect six murders at a temple. The perp shot himself, which was the only good thing one could say about that event.

One must realize that the American Sikhs, born and raised here, are very much assimilated in many cases; as this AP article on Amar Kaleka graphically illustrates, Son of slain Sikh to challenge Ryan.

Regards

Mike

Mike,

No offence meant.

Americans require to bone up on the world and the peoples.

Even Abe Lincoln had a beard!

Was he a crypto Muslim or a Sikh without the hair on his head?

 

[JMM99]

@Ray,

No offense taken, Brigadier. You and I have discussed more than once the need for Americans to bone up on a number of things. Unfortunately, as all of us learned in the Khobragade case, a segment of the USG is neither educable nor trainable. Hopefully, that will change.

As to Honest Abe, he was simply a good politician who listened to his constituents - in the case of his beard, he listened to Grace Bedell (then 11) who wrote him in October 1860 advising him to grow a beard. The result: Lincoln went from clean shaven (13 Aug 1860) to lightly bearded (23 Nov 1860):

Next step was the fully bearded Lincoln of our pennies and postage stamps.

The Lincolnesque bearded path is open to one of the leading Indian-American lights in the national Republican firmament, Bobby Jindal:

but not to the other leading light, Nikki Haley:

Truth be told: American politicians (good and bad) assimilate to their constituents' image of what "their" candidate should look and act like.

The assimilated Indian-American politician goes back at least as far as the first Indian-American member of Congress back in the 1950s-60s, Dalip Singh Saund:

When Saund came to the US in 1920, he could not become a US citizen - Sikhs and Hindus need not apply. Saund campaigned relentlessly to extend citizenship to South Asians; achieving success when the Luce-Celler Act was passed in 1946 - the first step, albeit small, in a much larger progress.

Regards

Mike

 

[Ray]

@mike,

Check this out.

Fear and loathing in Washington: The known unknowns about Modi are perfect catalysts for a reset of India-US relations
Fear and loathing in Washington: The known unknowns about Modi are perfect catalysts for a reset of India-US relations - The Times of India

Though a wee bit off topic, but an interesting commentary about US apprehensions to Modi.forming the Govt.

When Saund came to the US in 1920, he could not become a US citizen - Sikhs and Hindus need not apply. Saund campaigned relentlessly to extend citizenship to South Asians; achieving success when the Luce-Celler Act was passed in 1946 - the first step, albeit small, in a much larger progress.

When I was in school I read about Dalip Singh Sound in LIFE magazine when he became a Congressman. IIRC the year was 1957 or was it 1958?

 

[JMM99]

@Ray,

I also remember 1957 and 1958 while in school. We have to be careful, Brigadier, lest the youngsters around here think of us as living fossils.

Here is a photo archive (SAADA) having some Saund shots starting in 1956 - as an example:

But, the best one (and perhaps what you remember) is from 1958 - Rep. Saund with Honest Abe:

An unbearded Honest Abe ! I rest my case.

Regards, as always

Mike

 

[JMM99]

@Ray,

I briefly touched on Mr Modi and his American adversaries in the Khobragade thread - his adversaries are my adversaries, although for different reasons. I thought the Times (Seema Sirohi) article you linked (link) was a reasonable and accurate piece of journalism.

I've been following op-eds by Kanwal Sibal. The following two seem material: Strategic Miscalculations (by Kanwal Sibal, The Telegraph, 6 Mar 2014):

The United States of America is, once again, not managing its relations with India well. Gains made during George W. Bush's presidency in building strategic trust between the two countries are being steadily frittered away by wrong steps taken by the Obama administration, which seems to have taken its eyes off the India ball. Blame for this is being laid at India's door, with the argument that India has not lived up to American expectations, that we have been sitting on the fence, unwilling to grasp firmly the hand extended by the US because of our non-aligned obsessions resurfacing as "strategic autonomy".

Such talk assumes that India has to meet certain benchmarks set by the US in order to be a valuable partner — that is, to earn favour by behaving according to the US script. In this equation, the US is not required to live up to India's expectations. In reality, if the two countries have to build a meaningful strategic partnership, it cannot be a one-sided affair, with one side under pressure to give and the other expecting to take. ...

and, The future of Indo-US ties now lies squarely on America's shoulders (by Kanwal Sibal, Mail Today, 11 Apr 2014):

... A more serious political misjudgment by the US [JMM: than the Khobragade matter], for which the ambassador cannot escape blame, is the failure to mend political fences with Narendra Modi in a timely manner following the European example.

Worse for her credibility, the day she met Modi, the State Department declared that the visa policy towards him remained unchanged.

The ambassador would have undoubtedly been consulted beforehand about how her overture to Modi would be "balanced" at the Washington end, which further underscores the inept political handling of the US relationship with the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. ...

I've not yet read through the backup for the very recent WSJ-NBC poll, Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds - Nearly Half Surveyed in WSJ/NBC Poll Back Anti-Interventionist Stance That Sweeps Across Party Lines (by Janet Hook, April 30, 2014).

In my opinion, intervention goes beyond the military - political and cultural interventions are equally or more invasive. Hopefully, the USG will recognize the unpopularity of its present policies with its constituents. However, I realistically expect that change will only occur if we have a "wave election" this year (Congressional elections) and in 2016 for President.

Note that anti-interventionism does not necessarily mean isolationism - about 80% of Americans favor increased business and commercial ties globally. If Americans want that to happen, we will have to "bone up" on other peoples and be prepared to make trade-offs.

Regards

Mike

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Mike,

No offence meant.

Americans require to bone up on the world and the peoples.

Even Abe Lincoln had a beard!

Was he a crypto Muslim or a Sikh without the hair on his head?

Abe Lincoln grew a beard because a little girl told him it would hide his ugly face.

At least that's one story.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

I think there is a thread here from last September when the incident happened.

 

[Ray]

@JMM 99
Mike and @W.G. Ewald

You should read 'The Accidental Prime Minister' by Sanjaya Baru. It is a fscinating book since it is the first time a adviser of an Indian PM has written on his days in Office. The details of the US Nuclear deal and the hurdles and backstabbing the PM faced is a fascinating read and also would help understand how the politicians, bureaucrats and technocrats work at cross purposes, as also how political survival necessities of a Govt and vote bank considerations also play into formulating national politics.

The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh by Baru, Sanjaya (11 April 2014)

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