Racism should be tackled with affection: UK hate crime victim
SIKH ORGANISATIONS, ALONG WITH PEOPLE OF OTHER SECTS, WILL OBSERVE ‘TURBAN DAY’ OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT IN UK TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF LOVE
LUDHIANA:A week after he was attacked and his turban was pulled by a man outside the UK Parliament on February 21, Ravneet Singh, Ecosikh’s South Asia Project Manager, said racism could be tackled only with affection.
Ravneet, who hails from Ludhiana, along with his colleague Jaspreet Singh, was waiting in a queue to meet Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, a Sikh MP in the UK Parliament, when the assault took place. In an interaction with mediapersons in the city on Wednesday, Ravneet said, “We tried to avoid the attacker and even hid behind a pole, but he rushed towards me and tried to toss my turban.”
His colleague Jaspreet said that they couldn’t understand what the attacker had said, but they understood three words — Muslims, Go back. Jaspreet said that the incident shocked them and they narrated it to Dhesi, the Parliamentarian. Jaspreet added that the people present there along with the police personnel apologised to them.
The duo were to speak with the MP to discuss plans of establishing March 14 as Sikh Environment Day.
“Increasing incidents of racism should be tackled with affection and no one, irrespective of religion, gender or colour, should be discriminated against. We are discussing ways to handle such incidents with Akmal Shareef, country head, Islamic Relief India,” Ravneet added.
He added that Sikh organisations, along with people of other sects, will observe ‘Turban Day’ outside the UK Parliament to spread the message of love and mutual respect.
Jaspreet added that MP Dhesi had raised the issue in the House of Commons and the speaker had apologised in Parliament.
Supreet Kaur, president, Ecosikh, said, “Since 9/11, Sikhs have been attacked in many countries including the UK, the US and in Europe due to mistaken identity as Muslims, which is unfortunate. No community — including our Muslims brethren — deserve such treatment. We extend our support to people of all religions who are facing hatred.”
He added that in today’s world, where there was severe environment crisis, and there were issues with water, air and food quality, working towards improving the environment was the one way Sikhs could end racism and prove their identity.