2011
Sikh Summit Highlights the Need for Ongoing
Community Advocacy for Sikh Civil & Human Rights
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HIGHLIGHTS:
- Over 30 meetings advocating for Sikh civil and
human rights with Members of Congress and Government Agencies
including: Department of Justice (DOJ Civil Rights Division), DOJ
(Community Relations Service), Department of Education (DOE Office of
Civil Rights), and Census Bureau.
- Community comes together at the Sikh Summit
Dinner with guest speakers Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA - 32),
Congressman John Conyers (MI-14), Paul Monteiro (Associate Director of
the White House Office of Public Engagement).
- What's next? Get involved with policy change
going forward in your local community!
Washington, DC: Nearly 50 community members met over 30 members of
Congress and government agencies to advocate for Sikh civil and human
rights at the 3rd Annual Sikh Summit from May 2nd - May 6th, 2011 in
Washington DC.
The annual advocacy week consists of addressing ongoing civil rights
issues that most affect the Sikh community nationally to reach
meaningful solutions. The Summit is an opportunity for Sikh community
members to advocate for policies that protect and honor Sikh civil
rights by presenting their personal experiences to lawmakers to effect
positive change on a national level. The meetings are the beginning of
a dialogue with lawmakers and we seek to strengthen these partnerships
going forward. |
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Sikh Delegates meet with Senior
Counsel Derrick L. Brent from Senator Boxer's office (CA) |
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TSikh Delegates giving a momento to
Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32). Delegates include: Rajinder Singh
& Gurvinder Singh from Texas, Bhai Ram Singh and Harpreet Singh
from California, Gurdeep Singh and Hansdeep Singh from
New York, Sahib Kaur from Virginia |
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Sikh Delegates from CA, NY, NJ, VA,
TX and other states with Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) |
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Sikh Summit delegates in front of
Capitol Hill |
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The main issues that were addressed at this year’s
Sikh Summit were: racial/ religious profiling –specifically at airports
and through national security policies; the prevalence of bias based
bullying and its impact on the Sikh community; religious accommodations
for Sikhs seeking to serve their country (military) and for Sikhs
wearing dastaars, kirpans, and karas in other contexts; employment
discrimination; hate crimes and international issues of concern such
as: the mass graves found in Haryana and Delhi, India; the kirpan ban in the
Quebec Parliament; and the forcible turban removal that recently
occurred in Mohali, India.
During each meeting, UNITED SIKHS staff and Sikh community members laid
out these issues and discussed possible solutions. In the coming weeks,
the UNITED SIKHS legal team will be implementing the next steps and
actions items that were outlined at these meetings in the hopes of
working with government officials to further promote the rights of
Sikhs across the nation.
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Delegates Hansdeep Singh, Senior
Staff Attorney at UNITED SIKHS with Satinder Singh -CA, Harpreet Singh
-CA meeting with Congressman John Garamendi (CA-10) |
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Sikh Summit Delegates meeting with
staff of Senator Patty Murray (Washington): Birmohan Singh-NJ, Rucha
Kavathe-NJ, Gurdeep Singh -NY, Hansdeep Singh-NY, Gurvinder
Singh-TX, Satinder Singh -CA, Harpreet Singh -CA, Rajinder Singh
-TX, Abhijot Kaur-VA, Mansimran Singh -MD, Dr. Tejinder Singh
-NJ, Saheb Kaur-VA |
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Hope Goins, Counsel from the House
Committee on Homeland Security (TSA) with Sikh Summit Delegates: S
Bhakshish Singh -MD, Harpreet Singh -CA, Saheb Kaur -VA,
Rucha Kavathe-NJ, Birmohan Singh-NJ, Hansdeep Singh-NY, Gurdeep Singh
-NY, Abhijot Kaur-VA, Dr Tejinder Singh -NJ |
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Sikh Summit Delegates with the
members of the US Department of Justice Community Relations Service:
Becky L. Monroe, Acting Director, Community Relations Service, Ben
Lieu, Associate Director and Harpreet Singh, Regional Director of
Region III |
"As Chairman Emeritus of the Congressional Asian Pacific American
Caucus, I see UNITED SIKHS' work in preserving cultural heritage,
promoting civic engagement and providing humanitarian relief as vital
to the broader mission of the Asian American community," said
Congressman Mike Honda in a statement. "Our community and our nation
need stronger engagement in the political process and better leadership
to succeed. It is only through the strength of our diversity and the
commitment of organizations such as the UNITED SIKHS that we will be
able to meet our challenges head on."
The Sikh Summit dinner, held midweek, was another opportunity for
community members from all over the country to bring up relevant
issues. Attendees were able to hear comments from the White House
Office of Public Engagements Associate Director Paul Monteiro,
Congressman John Conyers, and Congresswoman Judy Chu. Renowned social
justice rap artist GNE had a special surprise in store, and after
dinner, the crowd was able to enjoy a program entitled, “Rapping for
Human Rights.”
Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32), a champion of Sikh rights said, “I was
honored to be a part of the Sikh Summit in Washington that raised
awareness of the civil rights challenges facing the community.”
Congresswoman Chu continues, “Racial profiling has become rampant in
the Sikh community and that is why earlier this week I called a meeting
with the head of the TSA and made sure he knew that we were not going
to stand for prejudicial policies at airports or anywhere else. I will
continue to stand by the Sikh community as we fight for fairness and
justice here at home and around the world.”
Becky L. Monroe, Acting Director, Community Relations Service at the
Department of Justice said, "The Community Relations Service welcomes
the opportunity to meet with the UNITED SIKHS to talk about how we can
continue to work together to empower local community leaders, law
enforcement officials, and government leaders to address discrimination
and prevent hate crimes against Sikhs and people of all faiths and
backgrounds. CRS has had the opportunity to work with volunteer leaders
from UNITED SIKHS who helped lead cultural professionalism programs for
local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as assisted
in development of sustainable mechanisms to improve dialogue between
community members and law enforcement officials. CRS looks forward to
working with UNITED SIKHS to supprt students, teachers, parents and
administrators develop safe school environments that foster
understanding and respect for people of all religions and ethnic
backgrounds."
UNITED SIKHS would like to thank all of those who came out to
participate this week and who took the time to share their personal
perspective on these very important issues. Mankanwal Singh, on of
UNITED SIKHS' directors, had this to say to the participants, “Your
involvement was invaluable. Advocacy organizations like UNITED SIKHS
play a vital role in protecting our civil rights, but without community
members who are willing to raise their voices to promote social
justice, we could not do the work that we do successfully.”
UNITED SIKHS would like to thank all of the members of Congress and
government officials who took the time to meet with our delegations
during the Sikh Summit.
What’s next? How can you get involved? First, make sure you sign up for
UNITED SIKHS e-mail list to be up to date on our current social justice
initiatives. Also, we are always looking for volunteers so contact us
if you want to get involved!
The Sikh Summit is only once a year, but civil rights advocacy is year
round –we need to raise our voices all the time! Contact UNITED SIKHS
to begin a dialogue about local issues with your representative by
emailing us at law-usa@unitedsikhs.org or calling us at 646-688-3525.
Make sure your local representative knows that you care about civil
rights issues affecting Sikhs, be an advocate every day! You can use Write Your Rep to find out the name of your local
officials and tell them you care about issues such as Bullying
prevention, hate crimes, and racial/ religious profiling.
Issued by:
Ilana Ofgang
Legal Fellow
law-usa@unitedsikhs.org
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Contact Us |
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crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the
UNITED SIKHS, which will provide immediate relief and support to those
in need. You may donate online at www.unitedsikhs.org/donate
or send your donations to a UNITED SIKHS office nearest to
you, whose details can be found at https://unitedsikhs.org/contact-us/
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donation is spent on admin costs.
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