IDENTIFICATION OF SIKHS IN US 'Make it part of school curriculum'

Jalandhar : Sikhs have started contacting the US Congressmen to press them to make the identification of the Sikhs a part of the school curriculum. “If Americans were told about the identity of Sikhs at the school level, the problem faced by Sikhs in this regard would disappear in due course,” said Harjinder Pal Singh Sandhawalia, spokesman of the Sikh Centre, Seattle, in the US. Sandhawalia, who is on a brief visit to Punjab, told The Tribune today that members of the Asian community held a round-table meeting with Jay Inslee, a Congressman from Washington DC. “I and Manmohan Singh, who is also a representative of the Sikh Centre, took up the issue of Sikh identity with Jay and briefed him with regard to the problems faced by the Sikh community due to issues related to its identity,” said Sandhawalia. “We have planned to hold meetings with other Congressmen also,” he added. He said as most of the Americans were not aware about who Sikhs were, they thought that people with turbans and beards were Afghans. Some Americans attack Sikhs believing that they were Afghans, he added. Sandhawalia said the issue of the safety of minority communities such as Sikhs was discussed at length with Jay. “I gave a letter from the Sikh Centre suggesting that awareness of community identification should be made part of the school curriculum. Jay accepted the letter and assured us that he would consider this and help us in resolving the issue through his office,” he said. The most important issue that is confronting the Sikhs at the moment is regarding clearing the security check at the airports in the US. Often Sikhs were asked to get their turbans checked. Recently, a Sikh Indian diplomat faced problems in the US. There are earlier instances also. “Our effort is to make the people in the US understand the difference between Sikhs and Afghans,” said Sandhawalia.