What Some Americans Think About Sikhs?

[kds1980]

Is this what some american think about sikhs or are these some crazies on internet



http://news.bostonherald.com/news/n...rticleid=1298102&format=comments#CommentsArea

WASHINGTON — Secondary airport screenings for passengers with headwear have left some Sikhs, whose religion requires men to wear turbans, feeling racially profiled and embarrassed.

While other airline passengers are protesting the federal Transportation Security Administration’s full-body scans and rigorous pat-downs because of privacy concerns, Sikhs, with a population in the U.S. of about 500,000, are also protesting on religious and racial grounds.

 

[Admin]

Let us not generalize... Out of 5,00,000 Sikhs living in US, how many Sikhs have actually reported any kind of harassment, they feel is meted out to them on US airports to US Sikh organisation like Sikh Coalition, SALDEF or United Sikh? The number is negligible.

The kind of abusive language used allowed on that forum suggests that its all those crazies that loiter around forums like Topix.com etc.

 

[kds1980]

Let us not generalize... Out of 5,00,000 Sikhs living in US, how many Sikhs have actually reported any kind of harassment, they feel is meted out to them on US airports to US Sikh organisation like Sikh Coalition, SALDEF or United Sikh? The number is negligible.

The kind of abusive language used allowed on that forum suggests that its all those crazies that loiter around forums like Topix.com etc.

Aman singh ji

You have a point but on the other hand many times people do write comments with their hearts as commenting is anonymous place so they don't have to say fake things which actually they don't mean.Also commenting against sikhs does not mean they are going to harrass them.North and south indians both write comments against each other yet their is hardly case of any harrassment.

 

[spnadmin]

Kanwardeep Singh ji and Aman Singh ji

I mull over comments like these as I run across news articles on the subject of turban searches. I think there are 2 issues, not one.

First is the tendency of people who have agendas, a lot of time on their hands, and bigotry in their hearts, if they have hearts, to dominate comments sections of newspapers -- unless we are talking about a newspaper, Internet journal, etc. that is aimed at a more rational audience. Those aimed at a general audience will attract malcontents who have nothing mindful to say about anything. I think everyone else is too busy holding down a job and taking care of their families to squander time venting their rage. And... these who comment very often are equal-opportunity haters. They hate anyone who is different with equal passion.

Second there is the big picture. The big picture is what we need to keep focused on. Our support should go to SALDEF, Sikh Coalition, United Sikhs, and similar advocacy groups who are treating this problem as a civil rights issue.They are working at the level of justice for all. When SALDEF gets onto an issue they are not only fighting for Sikhs. They are fighting for anyone who will be adversely treated by unjust laws (muslims, women, everyone). That is how it should go. Because when the law is unjust, it will be applied unjustly to anyone somewhere along the line. Valuable energy is lost by paying too much attention to "Comments."



That is the only way. If these organizations operated only to rescue the quom - forget everyone else - their actions would not be good examples of the message of Guru Gobind Singh, Guru Teg Bahadur, Guru Hargobind, all the Gurus. And the constitution of the US would not be upheld. It is based on the same idea of equality. Of course we often fail.

 

[kds1980]

SPNadmin ji

I have different view here.I don't think there is any society in world that accept immigrants with open arms not even sikhs in Punjab ,especially when people are losing jobs to outsourcing or to immigrants
.So some kind of negativity remain's in the hearts of people .That's why whenever they get chance they abuse them even on message boards.

In India almost every message board have Bihari bashing ,yet the reality is that if all the Bihari's leave the prosperous states then everything from agriculture to industry will come to hault.

 

[spnadmin]

I appreciate your point Kanwardeep Singh ji. But just as in the US, what about Punjab or India at large? How many people in India or Punjab have all three requirements: computer resources, level of hatred, and spare time to go about seeking opportunities to carry on in a public venu. Are not most people either without resources like computers and the Internet--- or at work, or watching after home and family? The people who post Comments represent a very small and skewed segment of any population.

Their signature should read: I have an axe to grind, a lot time on my hands, and a computer to prove it.