Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a Columbia University assistant professor of international and public affairs who is also a resident physician in East Harlem in New York, is a practicing Sikh. As part of his faith, he wears an uncut beard and a turban. Last September, he was attacked not far from his home in Harlem by a group of young men who, while yelling “terrorist” and “Osama,” kicked and beat Singh, fracturing his jaw and dislodging some of his teeth.
The attack on Singh is one of the most recent in a string of attacks against Sikhs in the United States since 9/11. Because so few Sikhs live in America, widespread unfamiliarity with the faith leads some to associate the Sikh turban and beard with the images of terrorists like Osama bin Laden.
Though Sikhism is the world’s fifth-largest religion, larger even than Judaism, only about 500,000 of Sikhism’s 23 million worldwide adherents live in the United States, according to an estimate from the Sikh Coalition, one of several advocacy groups started by the Sikh community after 9/11. The vast majority of Sikhs live in India, as Sikhism’s roots go back more than 500 years to what is today the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. Sikhs believe their religion was revealed to their first leader, Guru Nanak, in the late 15th century.
[,,,]
In a Consider This Q&A, Singh shares his perspective on being Sikh in the United States and the ways in which the perceptions of Sikhs in America are changing.
Dr. Prabhjot Singh on Sikh Americans: Every moment you’re an ambassador | Al Jazeera America
No comments:
Post a Comment