New York, NY: Harpreet Singh, Esq., former Legal Director of UNITED SIKHS recently joined the U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service as the Regional Director of Region III. The Staff and Volunteers at UNITED SIKHS wish him all the best in his new position where he will work to prevent and reduce community conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color, and national origin.
Harpreet Singh joined UNITED SIKHS as Legal Director in 2003 and has been an invaluable member of the legal team in a majority of the advocacy endeavors undertaken by the organization. One of his most important cases at UNITED SIKHS consisted of winning a groundbreaking kirpan (a religious sword worn as one of five articles of faith) case in 2005 in Detroit, where a Sikh student was arrested for wearing a 10-inch kirpan. The judge in that case ruled that the kirpan should not be considered a knife or a weapon, and the ruling has been used by many advocates to defend the right to wear the kirpan. He also worked on many other important cases, such as the recent US Airways settlement with the Sikh religious musicians, and a variety of profiling, hate crime, and employment discrimination cases.
As part of UNITED SIKHS’ legal team, Harpreet Singh consistently provided his expertise and service to the Sikh community not only in United States, but also in landmark Sikh civil rights cases around the world, including the UNITED SIKHS Right to Turban campaign in France, students’ right to turban in Belgium, and advocating for humanitarian aid and rights of Sikhs and other minorities in Pakistan.
In addition to his legal role, Harpreet represented the Sikh community’s interest in pending legislative matters in Congress and partnered with various coalitions of civil rights organizations to influence legislation. His advocacy duties included representation of the Sikh community’s concerns regarding employment discrimination, hate and bias crimes, school bullying, racial and religious profiling and immigration reform during meetings with White House officials, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the State Department.
Additionally, he played a pivotal role in building a strong relationship with the United States Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), and has spearheaded several collaborative projects with them, which have increased the reporting of the Sikh community of incidents of religious discrimination in the workplace.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service (CRS) is a federal agency responsible for working with governments, public/private organizations and community groups to resolve and prevent conflict situations stemming from differences in ethnic origin, race, and color. CRS mediators are often called upon to diffuse situations which may otherwise end up in violence and racial tensions.
“While we are sad to see Harpreet leave, we are thrilled at the opportunities that await him in this new position,” says Kuldip Singh, Director, UNITED SIKHS. He adds, “We wish him all the best for a bright career, and look forward to working with him in the future on relevant issues concerning civil rights and community relations.”
To send Harpreet Singh a congratulatory message, please email law-usa@unitedsikhs.org with a subject line: Congratulations Harpreet Singh, Esq, and the message will be passed on. All duties that were previously handled by Harpreet Singh will be looked over by Jaspreet Singh, UNITED SIKHS Staff Attorney.
For a previous press release on policy level representation of Sikh civil and human rights, visit: https://www.unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-10-11-2009-00.html
Issued by:
Jaspreet Singh
Staff Attorney
UNITED SIKHS
646-315-3909
Email: law-usa@unitedsikhs.org
