Anti-Sikh hate crimes breakout across USA

Two separate anti-Sikh hate crimes were reported in Fremont (California) and Queens (New York) yesterday, just as the FBI reported a record number of such incidents.

In California, an Indian nationalist extremist entered the premises of Fremont Gurdwara Sahib in the evening and began ripping down Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) posters, then attacking an elderly member of sangat (Sikh congregation). In New York, an African American screamed at a 19-year-old Sikh “We don’t wear that in this country”, regarding his dastaar (Sikh turban), before punching him several times.

The Indian nationalist extremist in Fremont was quickly apprehended by sangat and detained until police arrived to arrest him. Videos of him screaming “Khalistan is a terrorist organization” as he got arrested have gone viral. The background of the assailant is yet unconfirmed, although some local reports have said he was a Hindu man.

Local sources say he is being charged with vandalism and a hate crime. In July of this year, Hindu extremist Indian Army figure Major Gaurav Arya called for India to fund America’s “underworld” to attack Khalistanis after protests in San Francisco. Arya has been accused of raping his housemaid and murdering her husband in India.

Meanwhile a manhunt has been issued as police look for the suspect (pictured below) of the Queens incident, which occurred on a bus on Sunday morning. The 19-year-old Sikh, who is keeping his identity hidden, was taking the bus to attend a local Gurdwara program.

The attacks came on the same day as a Muslim family were attacked in Chicago, resulting in the tragic murder of a six-year-old by a white supremacist, another extremist group known to attack Sikhs. Many feel the outbreaks of violence are signs of increased xenophobia amid wider heightened tensions due to divides drawn from Israel’s ongoing Gaza Genocide, following a Hamas terror attack in the country last week. Wider accounts across various Western countries of hate crimes (including antisemitic, Islamophobic and more), and even other acts of terrorism have been reported in the last week. A NY officer speaking to media did confirm an increase in hate crimes after recent global incidents.

Concerns of Sikhs continuing to be targeted are being fueled by attempts to align support for Khalistan with Islamic terror, a narrative pushed on social media by both Hindu extremists and Western Indian State propagandists such as UK based Charlotte Fleetwood and Canada’s Daniel Boardman.

The Queens incident may be particularly worrying to many Sikhs, given recent history of anti-Sikh violence in the area aimed at the elderly just last year, an issue which only seemed to end when one main perpetrator was found dead the same year. In yesterday’s incident the bus passenger who attacked the Sikh man also told him to “take that mask off” before launching his assault and attempting to pull off his dastaar, which left the teen with cuts and bruises.

Further highlighting anti-Sikh issues in the USA, a New York based Conservative Republican social commentator received mass backlash for sharing a picture of Sikhs at a gun range, insinuating it was a worrying sight, which some commented on with coy threats. Twitter used @Kevin_Smith45 did apologize and delete his tweet thereafter, claiming he posted it only to see what reaction it would cause.

In another sign of increased anti-Sikh hate crimes, approximately two weeks ago, a Slough (UK) Sikh resident reported to community groups she was aggressively accosted by a group of Indian men for having a #FarmersProtest sticker on her car. The issue was circulated on social media in effort to encourage Sikhs to be aware of potential danger from fanatics attacking the community.

Respected Sikh run media outlet Satluj TV have most recently reported that they have found evidence which points to the Fremont attacker being directed to carry out the attack by Indian Consulate officials. Indian diplomats have been in the spotlight for their role in anti-Sikh activities ever since Canadian authorities confirmed their involvement in the June assassination of Shaheed (Martyr) Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Meanwhile, anyone with more information on the Queen’s suspect can call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

The day of anti-Sikh incidents came just as US intelligence agency the FBI released its annual report of hate crime statistics, which revealed the highest number of anti-Sikh hate crimes ever recorded in the USA from 2021-2022. Read more on this from community legal and political advocacy group The Sikh Coalition, including their criticism of why the FBI’s stats are “woefully incomplete” and also a link for their Allied Against Hate Toolkit.

Find it all here- New FBI Data Reports Highest Anti-Sikh Hate Crime Victimizations – Sikh Coalition.

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