Desi Talk - page 6

Continued From Page 4
Singh, 24, founder of Sikhs of NewYork,
told Desi Talk. Turban Day was an opportu-
nity for those that do not wear a turban to
experience it and learn about its signifi-
cance first hand, organizers said.
The four hour Times Square event was
live streamed. “Some 400,000 people saw it
live. And over 24 hours since the event took
place, half a million people have seen the
video on our Facebook site,” said Chan-
preet Singh, founder of Sikhs of NewYork.
The impact of
the event can be
measured not just
by the large atten-
dance, but also
from the reactions
of the crowds,
something that
was gauged by the
volunteers and
from posts of those who came to enjoy the
entertainment, Singh said. “Our three hash
tags, #IamSikh, #IamaSikh, and #Turban-
day, each had close to 200 photos posted
within 24 hours of the event,” said Singh. a
financial analyst with cosmetics giant Estee
Lauder, who founded Sikhs of NewYork
while a student at Baruch College in 2013.
“This is a youth initiative of a post-9/11
generation,” Singh said. “I started it mainly
because of discrimination I faced at high
school. I wanted to make a change,” he
said.When distributing informative pam-
phlets did not appear to be making a differ-
ence, the organization began Turban Day. It
has been held at Madison Square Park for
three years before coming to Times Squate
in 2016. “The crowd was a mix of many cul-
tures from different parts of the world and
around the United States. That’s one of the
reasons we chose Times Square,” he added.
They are already planning next year’s Tur-
ban Day, which Singh says, will increase
from 8,000 to 12,000 turbans, he estimates.
That is four times the number (3,000) that
were tied at the first Times Square Turban
Day in 2016.
that’s all you need to know
Sikh Cab Driver Racially Abused, Punched By Passenger In New York
By a StaffWriter
– NEWYORK
A
Sikh cab driver, Harkirat Singh, 24,
was racially abused by four unruly
and drunk passengers, punched by
one of them, who also snatched his tur-
ban off, in NewYork City, early Sunday
morning.
Singh picked up four riders at the cor-
ner of Eighth Avenue and 30th Street
around 5 a.m., but they were so drunk
they were falling asleep and giving him
contradictory directions, so he kicked
them out near Yankee Stadium in the
Bronx, he said, reported the NewYork
Post. The rowdy riders refused to pay their
fare, and Singh called the cops, he said.
That’s when one of the passengers
began shouting “F–k you, Ali Baba,”
punched Singh in the arm, swiped his tur-
ban and fled, the driver said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio decried the attack
on Twitter.
“Harkirat Singh –You are welcome
here,” de Blasio tweeted onMonday night.
“What happened to you was wrong. You
did the right thing by calling the NYPD.”
Shown the mayor’s message, Singh said
he felt “better” – but he still wants justice.
The NewYork Daily News narrated the
sequence of events and also said that the
encounter had left him badly shaken and
scared to do the night shift.
“I’m so afraid. I don’t want to work,”
Singh told the Daily News at his home in
Ozone Park, Queens. “It’s an insult on my
religion, also,” he said. “An insult of my
faith. It’s horrible.”
The immigrant from Punjab, India, said
he picked up three men and a woman – all
in their 20s – around 5 a.m. at the corner
of Eighth Ave. and 30th St., a few blocks
south of Madison Square Garden.
The quartet said they wanted to go to E.
165th St. and Jerome Ave. in the Bronx.
When the yellow taxi reached that inter-
section, the passengers complained that
Singh took them to the wrong destina-
tion – but the drunks couldn’t give the
cabbie a straight answer about where to
go next, he said.
“The girl’s saying, ‘Take the right.’ The
Spanish guy’s saying, ‘Take the left.’ So, at
that time, I was confused,” Singh said.
They began hurling slurs and banging
on the plastic partition in his cab, Singh
recalled.
“They’re using bad words, also. They
said, ‘Ali Baba, f–k you,’” said Singh, who
moved to the U.S. three years ago.
He pulled over and told the group to
pay $41.76 and to find another cab. The
woman coughed up the cash after Singh
called 911 —but then one of the men got
back into the cab.
Singh said the man who got back into
the cab tried to smash the meter. Then he
punched Singh in the arm, the cabbie
said.
After that, he picked off my turban
frommy head,” he said. “He wanted to
snatch my phone also…It was too horri-
ble.”
Police sources described the suspect as
a clean-shaven white Hispanic man in his
20s, around 5-foot-9 and weighing 160 lbs.
He was wearing red shoes and blue jeans.
He had short hair.
Terrified and crying, Singh says he
pleaded with the man to calm down.
“Why are you doing this, brother?We
can sit.We can talk,” he recalled telling the
unruly passenger.
“At that time, I’m so afraid – they can do
anything to me. They’re gonna kill me.”
With cops en route, the group made a
run for it – with Singh’s turban, which is a
primary symbol of the faith.
Singh said he’d been wearing a turban
since he was six years old. The theft oc-
curred just hours after thousands of Sikhs
flocked to Times Square for the annual
celebration of Vaisakhi also dubbed Tur-
ban Day, reported the Daily News.
The Sikh community have also started
a million dollar campaign on national tel-
evision in the U.S., and a billboard cam-
paign in Connecticut recently, to raise
awareness about the community, to
counter rising hate crimes.
Police say they’re only seeking one sus-
pect, though they’d like to speak to the
other three passengers. Singh did not re-
quire a medical attention but filed a report
with police. He was able to snap a photo
of two of the passengers.
Harpreet Singh Toor, the chairman of
public policy and external affairs at The
Sikh Cultural Society, said the theft re-
flected prejudice against Sikhs, who often
are the butt of anti-Muslim bias despite
following a different faith.
“I used to get mad – now I laugh at it,
because if we are still ignorant about other
faiths…who will make those people un-
derstand?” he asked.
Making Turbans Passé
6
April 21, 2017
COVER STORY
Entertainers at the
event included Top
Naach, a Bhangra
group from Virginia;
American Sikhs, an
instrumental band
from the 3HO Founda-
tion in Los Angeles;
The Lost Strings of
New York, and a
mandolin player.
(Photos: H.P Singh)
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