Efforts to decrease hate crimes against Sikhs in USA

In an effort to decrease the increasing hate crime against Sikhs in the United State of America, the American Sikh Congressional Caucus (ASCC) requested congressmen to sign its first act "hate crime statistics against Sikhs".

The bipartisan American Sikh Caucus, which has recently been founded by the congresspersons of Republican as well as Democrats has its purpose to resolve Sikh issues in USA.

In its first act the member of the congress and the co - Chairpersons Judy Chu and David Valadao of the ASCC requested the Advisory Policy Board to recommend the inclusion of an anti-Sikh hate crime category on the Hate Crime Incident Report (Form 1-699).

On June 5-6 the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Advisory Policy Board (APB) is planning to meet to take a final decision whether to begin separately counting hate crimes against American Sikhs. The FBI currently does not track hate crimes against Sikhs, instead counting them as anti-Islamic hate crimes.

In a letter to Advisory Policy Board Members, U.S. Department of Justice the congressmen revealed that since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, many in the Sikh community have seen an increase in hate crimes and bias-based bullying because of their religion. According to Sikh Coalition surveys, approximately 10 percent of Sikhs in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area alone have experienced physical violence or property damage because of their religion.

According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, rates of bullying against Sikh children "range from roughly half to over three-quarters." Recent Sikh Coalition research suggests that 67 percent of devout Sikh students in Fresno, California have experienced bias-based bullying because of their religion.

The latter further stated that several recent violent attacks on American Sikhs underscore the sad reality that American Sikhs remain acutely susceptible to bias-motivated violence. In 2012, six Sikh worshipers were killed in their Gurdwara (Sikh House of Worship) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin , when a gunman with ties to hate groups opened fire inside. While this tragic event garnered a lot of media attention and public outrage, many more hate crimes committed against the Sikhs happen regularly with little media or public notice.

In March 2011, two elderly Sikhs wearing traditional turbans were shot and killed on a street in Elk Grove, California. Last week, Piara Singh, an elderly Sikh man, was attacked and beaten with an iron bar outside the Nanaksar Sikh Temple in Fresno, California. Though the police are investigating the act as a hate crime, it has not yet been classified so.

The members of the caucus rued that despite this, an anti-Sikh category has not been added to Form 1-699. The member opines that including an anti-Sikh category is an important step in confronting violent hate crimes and increasing public awareness about these crimes.

"It will help law enforcement agencies and the community to better understand and comprehensively address the dynamics of hate crimes against Sikhs in the United States," stated the congressmen.