Browsing Tag: 9/11

Firstly, I would like to say that all those who perished on the horrific day of 9-11-2001, will always remain in our thoughts and prayers because this tragedy is etched in our hearts as Americans.

Unity Walk is a very family friendly experience and a great way for us all to learn about other people and faiths and to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. Every house of worship – every church, synagogue, temple, Gurdwara and mosque on Embassy Row opens their doors to each other and symbolically the world.

That anybody would think that Boston, of all places, would be intimidated by a couple of puny bombs is laughable. Sure, we grieve for the dead. We reach out to the injured, but we move forward.

Caring so deeply about the Sikh community and backlash we and other... individuals and families experienced after 9/11 propelled me towards a career path where I could advocate and speak on behalf of not only the Sikh community but other minorities in this nation that have been the targets of bias and discrimination.

Storytelling plus advocacy equals social change. According to Valarie Kaur, this is an equation that will reshape the world.

Assembling every year and holding a candlelight vigil at the spot where Balbir Singh fell, the Sikh people have been trying to speak against hatred while keeping awareness about their identity alive.

"Remember and meditate." Three simple words. They were spoken Tuesday morning at the War Memorial Center by Gurmail Singh, the head priest of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

Sikhi understands suffering as a mental construct. One who is spiritually connected with the Divine does not suffer,...

It is important that we take time to humanize these individuals. In overlooking their humanity, we lose a part of our own. We can maintain our own humanity by registering and remembering the effects that hate-crimes have on more personal levels.

Scholars have recently described this perceived relationship as a racialization of religious identity. This process has led to a conflation of Sikhs and Muslims, and therefore, has produced a corollary to Islamophobia -- Sikhophobia.

Yuba-Sutter Sikhs enjoy an acceptance and understanding unknown by brethren still struggling with backlash from the 9/11 attacks.

"Sikhs were mistaken to be Arabs in the post 9/11 scenario and beaten up. Doesn't this sound bizarre? I mean Sikhs and Arabs are as different as chalk and cheese. And that is what I have attempted to show in this film. It talks about the turban issue."

As time goes by and the memory of danger and death grows fainter, however, “morality salience” tends to polarize people politically, leading them to cling to their own beliefs and demonize others who hold opposing beliefs—seeing in them the cause of their own endangerment.

For Sikh Americans, reflecting on 9/11 brings many emotions.

Believers across the nation heard from faith leaders this weekend as millions of Americans wrestled with the spiritual challenges and lessons of 9/11. On the 10th anniversary, the Catholic archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, called the attacks in 2001 battles in "a war between sin and grace," a war mirrored within every human soul.

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Sikh Americans faced many of the same discriminatory conditions as Muslims and Arab Americans. Because of their distinct appearance, they were visible targets of violence and harassment.

Forcing a community into silence about their experiences is another form of terror that is seldom talked about. Sikhs have an outward identity that does not allow us to hide, so our only choice is to be vocal and act on a firm resolve as Americans who have a long-term stake in this country.

Over 200 community members from the Sikh, Arab, Muslim, and South Asian American communities—as well as government officials, advocates, and scholars—came together for two hearings last month to reflect on the realities of post-9/11 bias.

What became known simply as 9/11 triggered a reconfiguration in public life, dramatically altering the way Americans travel, fight wars and define ‘security’ and ‘terrorism.’ To understand the massive changes that has unfolded in the name of national security, it is important to recall the national climate of a decade ago.

At an event here Aug. 27 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, harrowing stories were related of bullying in schools, workplace harassment, hate crimes based on religious affiliations and persecution by law enforcement agencies due to wearing faith-based hair coverings.

How little we know about the origins of the Sept. 11 attacks is laid out in the disclaimer on Page 146 of the official 9/11 presidential commission report. A box on that page states clearly that the conventional narrative of how those portentous events unfolded is based largely on the interrogation under torture of key witnesses who...

Both tell their tales in first-person videos posted on a new Sikh Coalition website, which is collecting post-9/11 stories from Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and Arab Americans. In posted accounts from around the U.S., they describe suffering from bullying, discrimination and hate crimes.

I miss my brother almost every day. It's a big thing. But I never wanted to go back to India, never lost my belief in America. A documentary film was made about me. They called it, "A Dream in Doubt." I don't know why they used that title. My dream is not in doubt. It's confirmed. I'm going to live here my whole life, and I already have the dream.

Since 9/11, Mr. Sodhi has been devoted to mobilizing the Sikh American community to create awareness about the Sikh faith, as well as serving as a spokesperson against hate and violence.

The threat of the infiltration of Sharia, or Islamic law, into the American court system is one of the more pernicious conspiracy theories to gain traction in our country in recent years. The notion that Islam is insidiously making inroads...

In 21st century America, religious freedom doesn't come without a price.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Sikhs have reported a rise in bias attacks, both verbal and physical, against them. The backlash that hit Muslims across the country has expanded to include them and their faith as well, with some assuming the sight of a long beard and turbaned head can only mean one thing.

The rivaling stories on the memorial touched off a bitter, years long struggle in Arizona over how Sept. 11 should be publicly remembered. Here, as in the rest of the United States, there are opposite and diverging opinions about tolerance and patriotism, hate and peace. And on the Phoenix memorial, those opinions are etched in steel, side by side.

Governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer invited the family of Balbir Singh Sodhi’s, America’s first victim of hate-crime after 9/11, to her office and vetoed the House Bill number 2230 in their presence which would have removed Sodhi’s name from state memorial built to mark the tragedy of 9/11 and its victims.

Rana Singh Sodhi said he still opposes Kavanagh's bill, which would require panels on the memorial to be removed by Sept. 11, 2011, the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. By agreeing to introduce follow-up legislation in January to correct the slight against Balbir Singh Sodhi in the original legislation, Kavanagh is admitting the original bill is flawed.