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Round-up: American Sikhs who won elections during the US 2018 Midterms

December 20, 2018 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A number of American Sikhs won local races in various jurisdictions around the country during the 2018 midterms.

Categories: Politics • Tags: 2018 elections, 2018 Midterms, Ajmar Johal, Anaheim, Bobby Singh-Allen, California, Carteret, Elk Grove, Fresno, Gagandeep Kang, Galt, Gurpal Samra, Harry Sidhu, J.R. Thiara, Jag Bains, Jasbir Judge, Lathrop, Live Oak, Livingston, Naindeep Singh Chann, Natomas, New Jersey, Paul Sandhu, Raj Chahal, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Santa Clara, Sarabjit Kaur Cheema, Sikh candidates, Sim Gill, Simran Kaur, Sonny Dhaliwal, Tracy, Union City, Utah

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Gilbert Garcia has been arrested in the assault on 82-year-old Piara Singh on May 5 in Fresno, California. (source: Crime Voice)

Attacker of Fresno, CA, Sikh senior deemed unfit to stand trial

October 23, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Back in May, Gilbert Garcia attacked an elderly Sikh man named Piara Singh with a metal rod outside a Gurdwara in Fresno, California. Piara Singh, 82 years old, was hospitalized due to the injuries he sustained that included severe head injuries and collapsed lung. He was discharged home where he is recovering from his injuries. The attack was quickly deemed a hate crime based on statements made by Garcia after the attack. On Monday, after a third medical evaluation, it […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: California, Fresno, Gilbert Garcia, hate crime, hate crimes, Piara Singh

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"Simran Kaur, advocacy manager for the Sikh Coalition, recently spoke to 10 classes at Selma High School to help educate them about the Sikh community. The coalition wants to increase awareness, following the May 5 beating of an 82-year-old Sikh man in Fresno. The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has called the assault a hate crime. Here, Kaur sits at teacher Alison Sickler’s desk as students write about what they learned from Kaur’s presentation." (Source: The Selma Enterprise)

Eliminating stereotypes through education

June 5, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the wake of last month’s attack on 82-year-old Piara Singh in Fresno, California, the Sikh Coalition provided awareness presentations to ten classes at nearby Selma High School. The school’s principal, Mark Babiarz, discusses why it was important: “We need to educate others outside the community of Selma about the many contributions that the Sikh community makes to Selma, the state of California and throughout the nation. Education is the key to eliminating stereotype bias and ignorance about any culture.” […]

Categories: Education • Tags: California, Fresno, Mark Babiarz, Selma, Selma High School, Sikh Coalition, Simran Kaur

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"In the Sikh community garden in Fresno [California], where older gardeners mentor younger ones." (Credit: Jim Wilson | The New York Times)

The community gardens of Fresno, CA

June 3, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In The New York Times, Patricia Leigh Brown writes about community gardens in Fresno, California, as places of support for various communities, including the Punjabi Sikh Sarbat Bhalla Community Garden, which provides a safe space for conversation for Sikh women: “Young women have to prove ourselves more than our brothers do,” she said. So the group members supports one another, “especially if a girl is down,” [Parmeshvar Kaur Dhaliwal] said. …and Sikh men: Amandip Singh Gill, a 32-year-old garden organizer, […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Amandip Singh Gill, California, Community Garden, Fresno, New York Times, Parmeshvar Kaur Dhaliwal, Punjabi Sikh Sarbat Bhalla Community Garden

Attacker of Fresno, CA, Sikh senior charged with hate crime

May 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Gilbert Garcia, who is accused of brutally attacking 82-year-old Piara Singh on May 5 as he walked home from a Gurdwara in Fresno, California, has now been also charged with a hate crime. Garcia was initially charged with attempted murder and elderly abuse as well, for which he has pleaded not guilty. Interestingly, shortly after the assault, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer strongly suggested that the attack on Piara Singh was a hate crime, and it was reported that Garcia […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: California, Fresno, Gilbert Garcia, hate crimes, Piara Singh

Jasdeep Singh of Jakara Movement Misl Fresno discusses community engagement projects to help prevent future hate crime attacks in the community. (Source: YouTube)

A community effort against hate crimes

May 24, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Jasdeep Singh of Jakara Movement in Fresno, California, describes the community’s response to the alleged hate-motivated assault on 82-year-old Piara Singh almost two weeks ago: Animosity and hatred fester in places where people do not engage, interact and share with one another. Law enforcement can react but not prevent; the same is also true of legislation. One should not need to be “educated” or even require greater “awareness” to know not to attack innocent, elderly men. Read more at The […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Interfaith • Tags: California, Fresno, hate crimes, Jakara Movement, Jasdeep Singh, Piara Singh

Piara Singh speaks to local media about being attacked on May 5 in Fresno, California. (Source: ABC30/KFSN)

Piara Singh, 82-year-old assault victim, speaks about his attack

May 21, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Piara Singh, the 82-year-old Sikh man who was brutally assaulted in an alleged hate crime on May 5 in Fresno, California, spoke to local media about the attack that has left him with dozens of stitches, broken ribs and a punctured lung — injuries from which he is still recovering: “You have good people and you have bad people, this person was not a good person when he attacked me but there are very wonderful people who are out there […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: California, Fresno, hate crimes, Piara Singh

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Pizza is prepared by members of Jakara Movement Fresno as part of community outreach in wake of attack on Sikh senior. (source: KSEE)

Pizza and kindness in Fresno, California

May 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the wake of the apparent hate-motivated attack on 82-year-old Piara Singh near Gurdwara Nanaksar (a Sikh house of worship) in Fresno, California almost two weeks ago, members of Jakara Movement Misl Fresno are using pizza as means to engage with the local community in their “Know Your Neighbors” initiative: Local supporters will be sharing pizzas to local communities in appreciation of their support after the hate crime. The initiative is meant to get to know the neighbors better and […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Interfaith • Tags: California, Fresno, hate crimes, Jakara Movement, Piara Singh, pizza

Rethinking the hate crime villain

May 14, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After the attack on 82-year-old Piara Singh in Fresno, California, nine days ago, Preeti Kaur (on her blog The Longest There) considers the suspected perpetrator and delves into the meaning of “hate crime”: The term hate-crime is a peculiar term. Others have discussed the definition of hate-crimes and need for such a delineation, of course, but for me its peculiarity is that in the act of describing a hate-crime as a hate-crime, the biggest offense becomes the hate, and the crime […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: California, Fresno, Gilbert Garcia, hate crimes, Piara Singh, Preeti Kaur, The Longest There

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Fresno

Round-up: American Sikhs who won elections during the US 2018 Midterms

Attacker of Fresno, CA, Sikh senior deemed unfit to stand trial

Eliminating stereotypes through education

The community gardens of Fresno, CA

Attacker of Fresno, CA, Sikh senior charged with hate crime

A community effort against hate crimes

Piara Singh, 82-year-old assault victim, speaks about his attack

Pizza and kindness in Fresno, California

Rethinking the hate crime villain