SGPC to write to PM over attack on Sikhs in US

Terming the recent attacks on some Sikhs in the US as "unfortunate", SGPC today said it will write to the Prime Minister, urging the Centre to take up the matter with America and other foreign countries to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
"These attacks on the Sikhs, said to be hate crimes, are very unfortunate and we condemn them strongly," Avtar Singh Makkar, President of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, said today.
He said SGPC will soon write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to take up the issue with the United States and other foreign countries to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Days after a Sikh man was hit and dragged by a truck in New York following an argument between him and the driver who allegedly hurled racist slur at him on August 5, another Sikh man and his mother were attacked in the city on August 7 by a group of teenagers in an apparent hate crime, sparking an outrage among the community members.
"The Centre should strongly take up the matter with US government in the larger interest of the Sikhs living in the country," Makkar said.
"Such attacks have happened in the past as well. According to media reports, in this recent attack on the mother-son duo in New York, the attackers had used derogatory language against the man's mother and made fun of her hair, which needs strong condemnation," he said.

Makkar said the US government should curb such attacks on innocent Sikhs with an iron fist and severely punish those found guilty.