February 27, 2014: About 40 members of Jersey City’s Indian/Sikh community held a special meeting with city council members last night, telling them of two recent assaults they believe were hate crimes and to ask for more representation in the city administration.
“'Osama go back home. You don’t belong here,'’’ Sunny Kumar, 33, who is on the board of Nanak Naam Jahaj Gurudwara temple on West Side Avenue, said a Sikh man was told while being assaulted on Feb. 15 on Liberty Avenue off Carlton Avenue during a dispute about snow shoveling.
Kumar said part of the man’s beard was torn out, he was kicked in the stomach, beaten with a shovel, had bruises on his chest and pain in his jaw when he was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was treated and released with pain killers.
In a January incident, two Sikh men, with beards and wearing turbans, were walking on Liberty Avenue near Spruce Street when they were assaulted for no reason other than “the way they looked,’’ Kumar said, adding that one man suffered a broken wrist and the other suffered facial bruises.
“People associate Sikhs with terrorists because of the turban and beards,’’ said Kumar.“It’s like calling a horse a donkey.''
The brief meeting was attended by council members Joyce Watterman, Daniel Rivera, Richard Boggiano and Khemraj “Chico’’ Ramchal as well as representatives of the North and West police districts. Those attending the meeting were disappointed that Mayor Steven Fulop did not attend even though he had been invited.
An upshot of the meeting is that Council President Rolando R. Lavarro, Jr., council members Ramchal, and Jersey City Police Chief Robert Cowan will attend a service at the temple on Sunday with the aim of addressing the violence, becoming more aware of the Sikh community history and culture and discuss representation in city government, Kumar said.
The Sikhs said they would like to participate in more cross-cultural events to increase awareness of their culture.
Rivera offered to be a liaison to the Sikh community and there was also a suggestion by officials that Sikh history and culture be included in school curriculums.