Rajdeep Singh |

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: Reuters | DNA India)

Rajdeep Singh: address human rights during Indian PM’s US visit

September 26, 2014 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the United States, Rajdeep Singh of the Sikh Coalition provides some perspective on the controversial figure who until recently was even denied a travel visa to enter the country: In 2002, while Modi served as Chief Minister of Gujarat, over a thousand Muslims were massacred in retaliation for the deaths of 59 Hindu pilgrims, who burned to death when a train they were traveling in caught fire. Muslims were […]

Categories: 1984, Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: 2002 Gujarat violence, Narendra Modi, Rajdeep Singh

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Bhagat Singh Thind as a member of Company #2 Development Battalion #1, 166th Depot Brigade, of Camp Lewis in Astoria, Oregon. (Source: bhagatsinghthind.com)

US citizenship versus military service

July 17, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Rajdeep Singh, of the Sikh Coalition, writes in The Hill about the irony wherein observant Sikh Americans are prevented from serving in the US military today, when almost 100 years ago, an observant Sikh served in the US Army but was denied the right to be considered as an American: Although his [right to citizenship] challenge was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1923 on the ground that he was not a “white person” under those laws, another American […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Bhagat Singh Thind, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, United States Armed Forces, US Army, US military

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Cover of Why Tolerate Religion? by Brian Leiter.

Questioning and defending freedom of religion

March 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A new book by University of Chicago Law School professor Brian Leiter entitled Why Tolerate Religion? questions the practice of establishing religious liberty as a right: For example, he says a boy might be permitted to carry a dagger to school as part of his Sikh religion, but the same dagger would not be allowed if it were part of a family tradition. Without having read Brian Leiter’s book (see a review by Robert Merrihew Adams here), it would be unfair […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Literature • Tags: Brian Leiter, freedom of religion, Oklahoma University, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, University of Chicago Law School

Blurred image of a nihang Sikh (source: mrsikhnet.com)

The ironic invisibility of Sikhs

December 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent CBS News documentary entitled “Working for Religious Freedom“, Rajdeep Singh, the Director of Law and Policy at the Sikh Coalition, commented on how little Sikhs are known in the United States (at 19:45 in the video): Sikhs have been in the United States for more than 100 years, and ironically, despite being one of the most visible people in this country, in some respects, we’re invisible. I was reminded of this quote — and of our ironic […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: CBS News, Global Religious Landscape, Pew Forum, Pew Forum of Religion and Public Life, Pew Research Center, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition

California’s Workplace Religion Freedom Act rights the wrongs faced by our parents

September 19, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

When my Sikh father immigrated to America in 1970 to practice architecture, employers told him that he could have a job only if he removed his turban and shaved his beard. He refused to abandon his faith and took his first job as an office boy, sharpening pencils and making coffee for his fellow architects. For decades, Sikh fathers like mine and countless religious minorities around the nation have been offered a similarly false choice between religious freedom and self-fulfillment […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reflections • Tags: AB1964, California, National Public Radio, NPR, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, StoryCorps, Workplace Religious Freedom Act

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Reader: Sikhs should abolish the turban

August 12, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A reader writes: SSakal – The question of the turban as an identification mark of a Singh/Sikh is the key. Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa and gave them 5 ritual markings to carry as an identification: K – Kes (long hair) K – Kanga (comb) K – Karah (bangle) K – Kashera (underwear) K – Kirpan (dagger) Here lies the Truth. The Guru has never dictated, advocated or commanded His followers to wear a sixth article: T – Turban D […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Sikhism • Tags: Dastar, Gurdwara, Guru Gobind Singh, hate crimes, hukamnama, Oak Creek, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, Turban, Washington Post, Wisconsin

Culture, Law and the unfulfilled American promise

December 22, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Rajdeep Singh, of the Sikh Coalition, writes in the New York Times: Sikh Americans, in particular, continue to face relentless challenges in the post-9/11 environment. Worse still, American law affords inadequate protection to Sikhs against religious discrimination and, in some cases, reflects deep-seated stereotypes about American identity. For Sikhs, it is indeed a two-fold challenge: there are both cultural and legal hurdles that we face in this country that prevents Sikhs from experiencing full equality. These hurdles are not in […]

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: freedom of religion, Rajdeep Singh, Religious discrimination

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Other American Sikh perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden

May 5, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Subsequent to my post yesterday about my feelings after receiving the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, I was struck by the common chord sounded by Sikhs all over the United States who, too, expressed mixed emotions about the event: joy at justice finally being delivered, combined with an uneasiness that an increase in hate crimes targeting men in turbans in this country could be on the horizon. Sikhs, who are the predominant portion of the people wearing turbans in this country, have experienced a brunt […]

Categories: News Bits, Reflections • Tags: Balbir Singh Sodhi, Dr. I.J. Singh, Dr. Rajwant Singh, Navdeep Singh Dhillon, Osama bin Laden, Rajdeep Singh, Rana Singh Sodhi, Sukhsimranjit Singh, Valarie Kaur

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The Sikh Coalition faces racial profiling, cont’d

April 5, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It was at this moment that I realized we were being profiled and that what made us “suspicious” in the eyes of some misinformed bigot were our turbans. I clarified to the 3 officers that we are actually from South Asia; requested their business cards; and told them that we would “be in touch.” At long last, we made our way to the Capitol Visitor Center, where Gurwinder delivered an excellent presentation with poise and incredible grace, only moments after […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: "Washington, D.C.", Gurwinder Singh, Racial profiling, Rajdeep Singh, Sikh Coalition

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Rajdeep Singh

Rajdeep Singh: address human rights during Indian PM’s US visit

US citizenship versus military service

Questioning and defending freedom of religion

The ironic invisibility of Sikhs

California’s Workplace Religion Freedom Act rights the wrongs faced by our parents

Reader: Sikhs should abolish the turban

Culture, Law and the unfulfilled American promise

Other American Sikh perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden

The Sikh Coalition faces racial profiling, cont’d