Dated: May 17, 2022

New York

On May 14, 2022, as the Sikh community prepared to stage a Rally Against Hate on the steps of Borough Hall in Queens, NY, we received news that ten persons were brutally massacred in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York by a gunman. Police have identified him as a white supremacist. With heavy hearts, we move forward with our plans to engage our leaders and the public in a Rally to say, ‘WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!’

We plan to come out and speak up for the families of the ten people who were murdered brutally in Buffalo and for the Sikh community in Richmond Hill, NY, that has seen at least four members assaulted and even robbed at gunpoint near their homes in the last two months alone. And for all minority communities who face harassment and hate daily.

“The problem continues to evade solutions if we fail to address the underlying problems,” states Gurpreet Singh, CEO at UNITED SIKHS. “For members of minority communities who have always been left to feel they are on the margins, the experience is compounded by hopelessness that seeps down from our institutions. The problem evades the police, who can only act when a crime has already been committed. Legislation that attempts to punish hate is a beginning, but we need to go beyond that,” he states.

UNITED SIKHS and the Sikh community stand with the Buffalo community and all communities plagued by hate.

We call a SIKH RALLY AGAINST HATE on May 23, 2022, to take our message to the steps of the Queens Borough Hall. We state that we stand unequivocally against all hate and intolerance.

We call on our leaders to denounce racial, ethnic, and gender hate and the beliefs that inspire them. We request the law enforcement officers to take the hate crimes against our communities seriously and provide additional protection in vulnerable communities. We appeal to all communities to reject the intolerance and hatred that triggers hate crimes.

We will continue the struggle to add substance to these commitments by fighting for equality in all respects and for all people. 

Manvinder Singh

Advocacy Director

International Civil & Human Rights Adcvocay- ICHRA

Recognize the Human Race as One