American Sikhs Face Threats and Violence

September 16, 2001

Source: Newsday

On September 16, 2001, Newsday reported that "A 66-year-old man from India, who follows the Sikh religion and wears a turban, was beaten Tuesday by men who mistook him for an Arab and blamed him for Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the man and his relatives say. 'They were abusing him and shouting at him, that he was Arabic and Muslim,' said Attinder Jeet Singh, 40, the man's son. Attar Singh, the victim, and his family are Sikhs from India. Sikh men wear turbans and beards. Many people assume they are Muslims. They are not. 'He was coming from temple, where they prayed for what happened at the World Trade Center,' Attinder Jeet Singh said of his father." ... "'We feel under siege,' said Mankalwal Singh, a Wall Street computer programmer who said he witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings on Tuesday. 'Many Sikh-Americans like me would die for this country.'"