Again in NYC: Sikh Girl's Hair Forcibly Cut By Another Student

(New York, New York) June 21, 2008 - The Sikh Coalition is dismayed to report that a twelve-year-old Sikh girl's hair was maliciously cut by another student. On June 9, Gurprit Kaur, a student at Public School 219 in Flushing, Queens, discovered that another student had cut off a portion of her braided hair and discarded it.

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Confrontation at the Department of Education

(New York, New York) June 6, 2008 - In a dramatic scene outside New York City Department of Education headquarters, hate crime victim Jagmohan Singh Premi, City Council Member John Liu, and the Sikh Coalition confronted the city educators on their failure to protect Sikh children from bias-based harassment.  All major media outlets in New York covered the event, which endured the added drama of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein making an unexpected appearance to apologize to Jagmohan.

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Another Sikh Boy Suffers Hate Assault in City School

(New York, NY) June 5, 2008 - New York City's Sikh community has again suffered the indignity of another hate crime against a Sikh student.  This past Tuesday, Jagmohan Singh Premi, a student at Richmond Hill High School, was punched in the face after a student intentionally attempted to remove his patka (smaller turban).  The perpetrator has a long, documented history of harassing Jagmohan in school, making fun of his patka and beard, and attempting to pull off his patka.

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New York City Returns Confiscated Kirpan

June 3, 2008 (New York, NY) - The City of New York has agreed to return a kirpan that it had confiscated from Himat Singh, President of the Sikh Center of New York gurudwara in Flushing, Queens.  The city agreed to do so within hours after the Sikh Coalition raised the matter with city officials.

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Coalition to Open West Coast Office

(Fremont, California) May 19, 2008 - In a major development for the Sikh community, the Sikh Coalition announces the opening of a Western Region office in the San Francisco Bay Area this summer.  For the first time, the Sikh community will have full-time staff defending Sikh interests on both coasts. The Coalition congratulates and thanks the Sikh community for its support in making this possible.

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Latest Update: Turban Set on Fire at School

(Hightstown, NJ) May 16, 2008 - The Sikh Coalition is  encouraged by the swift action taken by Hightstown High School to address the lighting of a Sikh student's turban on fire last week. Local police also served the perpetrator with a hate crime complaint on Wednesday

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Sikh Boy's Turban Set on Fire at School

(Hightstown, NJ) May 12, 2008 - New Jersey's Sikh community is outraged after a fellow student set fire to the turban worn by the Sikh teenager in an unprovoked attack at school.

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Flying While Sikh: TSA Gets a Grade

(New York, NY) May 2, 2008 - In October 2007, the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released a revised policy for screening Sikh turbans. Since then, community members have kept us informed about their experiences at U.S. airports. We in turn tracked the stories to help understand how the revised policy is affecting Sikhs at U.S. airports. This week, based on those reports, the Sikh Coalition released its first quarterly TSA report card to identify problem areas with the new policy.

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Photo Essay: Our NYC Civil Rights Project
(New York, NY) April 21, 2008 - Last week the Sikh Coalition released the report "Making Our Voices Heard: A Civil Rights Agenda for New York City Sikhs."  Our photo essay provides insight into the creation of our report and civil rights agenda with Sikhs of New York.

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Criminal Kirpan Charges Dropped Against California Sikh

Hayward, California (March 27, 2008) - Prosecutors in Alameda County, California decided to drop criminal charges against Maninder Singh, a Sikh who was arrested for carrying his kirpan. The charges were dismissed as a result of a collaborative effort between the Sikh Coalition and Singh's defense attorney.

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Grand Jury Fails to Indict Turban Attackers with a Hate Crime

Roseberg, OR (March 20, 2008) - The Sikh Coalition is disappointed that an Oregon grand jury declined to indict three men for committing a hate crime when they tore off and stole a Sikh trucker's turban.  The Coalition learned last night that the grand jury instead chose to indict the men on the lesser charges of harassment and theft in the third degree.  

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Coalition Meets with United States Attorney General

Washington, DC (March 14, 2008) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey met with religious community representatives two weeks ago to discuss issues facing their respective communities in the United States.  The Sikh American community was represented by the Sikh Coalition at this historic meeting with the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

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