Dec 16, 2014 - AMRITSAR: After Monday's hostage incident in Sydney, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has written to Australian government to protect Sikhs and ensure that they were not mistaken due to their identity. DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK told TOI on Tuesday that he had written a letter to Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott asking to deal with the issue of Sikh identity with care, compassion and empathy.
Quoting media reports, GK said that the alleged hostage suspect had dressed himself in attire identical and worn by Sikh men at large which had become a cause of concern for Sikhs living across the globe. "Earlier Sikhs have been victim of mistaken identity and I hope the same wouldn't happen in Australia . I want to assure the people of Australia, that Sikhs always aspire for welfare and prosperity for the nation wherever they are living and in particular Australia has been home to a large of number of Sikh Community, which has always promoted strong India-Australia relations," said GK.
While offering condolences to the people and the residents of Australia for trauma they underwent due to hostage crisis at Sydney on Monday which led to loss of two innocent lives, GK in a letter written to Abbott said, "Sikhs advocate humanity, mankind, peace, and prosperity and disapprove any such activity including fanaticism". The letter has been sent through Australian High Commission in New Delhi, he informed.
GK said Sikhs had a distinct identity and turbans were inseparable part of Sikh men, which was mandatory as per Sikh rehat maryada (code of conduct). The DSGMC in the past had taken up the issue of Sikh identity with different foreign embassies and High Commissions and had launched a campaign about the Sikh identity he said adding that DSGMC had also issued an appeal to the Sikhs living all around the globe to make people living in their neighbourhood, aware about Sikhs, their culture, ethos, rehat maryada and most important the distinct identity.