DSGMC TAKES UP ISSUE WITH SUSHMA SWARAJ AND US AMBASSADOR

Newdelhi, March 7 : The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) today took up the issue of shooting of a sikh at Kent near Seattle in US recently with Union External Affairs Minister Ms Sushma Swaraj and US Ambassador to India Mr.Richard Verma and urged them to expedite steps to ensure stopping of racial attacks and discrimination with the Sikhs in the United States.

In separate letters written to Ms Sushma Swaraj and US Ambassdor Mr. Richard Verma, the General Secretary of the DSGMC Mr. Manjinder Singh Sirsa expressed serious concern on attacks on the Sikhs in US and said that this is very shameful and shocking that killings of sikh people in US over the past decade is continuing unabated.

Mr. Sirsa said that though Ms Swaraj had been taking up issues keeping in mind feelings of sikh community but inspite of that the incidence of discrimination with sikh community by causing hurt, injury and sometimes killing is being repeated one after another. He said that recent attack on one Deep Rai s/o Harpal Singh was the latest one in the series. He further said that no matter wherever the sikh is residing or visiting in any part of the world, his roots are embedded in Punjab, India.

Mr. Sirsa said that DSGMC which is a statutory body established by the Act of Parliament, 1971 of Government of India represents the sikh community and thus has responsibility bestowed upon by sikh sangat for taking up these issues whenever any kind of racial, or insulting act occurs on the identity of a sikh.

Stressing upon establishment of a separate cell by the Ministry to take up these issues, Mr. Sirsa suggested that this cell can have members of Government of India and representatives of sikh people from the elected bodies namely DSGMC and SGPC. He also said that that along with this a proper campaign should be launched to ensure that such kind of incidents may not occur in future.

Mr. Sirsa also reminded the External Affairs Minister and US Ambassador of the incidents occurred in recent past including firing incident occurred in year 2012 at Gurdwara Sahib Wisconsin where an accused namely Wade Michael Page shot six sikh and wounded four others, discrimination with Waris Ahluwalis a sikh Americn actor who was barred from boarding Aero Mexico flight from Maxico after he refused to remove his turban and incident of a Indo Canadian Sikh comedian Jasmeet Singh who was forced to remove his turban at US Airport and later barred from boarding a flight to Mexico.

The DSGMC General Secretary urged both the leaders to take up steps urgently on the matter as the community was worried a lot keeping in view the changed circumstances in the US.