Free Republic

A Sikh man shot outside his home in Washington state by a partially-masked gunman shouting "go back to your own country" was targeted because of his ethnic origin, authorities have said as they announced a reward of up to $6,000 for anyone providing a lead in the case. US national Deep Rai, 39, was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent on March 3 when he was approached by a stranger, who first argued with Rai, and then shot him in the arm. "The account provided by the victim suggests that he was targeted because of his ethnic...

Fear, hurt and disbelief weighed on the minds of those who gathered at a Sikh temple Sunday after the shooting of a Sikh man who said a gunman approached him in his suburban Seattle driveway and told him "go back to your own country." "Everybody who is part of this community needs to be vigilant," Satwinder Kaur, a Sikh community leader, said as several hundred people poured into a temple in Renton for worship services about 1 mile from Friday night's shooting.

The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings that killed 331 people is now free, Canada's parole board said Wednesday. Inderjit Singh Reyat had been ordered to live at a halfway house following his release from prison one year ago, after serving two decades behind bars. That condition has now been lifted and Reyat may return to a normal life, including "living in a private residence," parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said in an email. The onetime Sikh extremist, an immigrant from India, was convicted of making bombs that were stuffed into luggage and planted on two planes...

"It's just hardwired into us and our religion," Harsimran Singh aid. "Anytime someone needs help, we need to be there." Members of the Sikh faith are inviting the 188,000 evacuees who were forced to leave their homes because of the damaged Oroville Dam emergency spillway to come to their temples for a nice vegetarian meal and a rest on the floor of their prayer halls. Yuba City and Sacramento — both about an hour's drive from Oroville — are central migration spots for Sikhs in California, most of whom originally hailed from Punjab, India. Several temples in the surrounding Northern...

A Sikh bar owner in the US is being hailed as a hero for helping capture the 28-year old Afghan-American wanted for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey.Harinder Bains, the owner of a bar in Linden found Ahmad Khan Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar on Monday. Bains said he was watching news on TV on his laptop from another business across the street. At first, he thought he was some "drunk guy" resting in the vestibule but then recognised Rahami and called police. "I'm just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do....

A 20-year-old Sikh man was kicked out of an overnight queue to watch the Wimbledon tennis championships as he apparently made other people around him "uncomfortable". Govindpal Kooner took to Facebook last week to voice his anger at being thrown out and claimed it was an act of racism, cases of which have reported a rise in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU).

KAMLOOPS - Nicole Mulcahy and Betty Timuss were having dinner in their home along Heffley Creek Saturday evening when they heard what sounded like two animals fighting. The first time they heard it, they didn't think much of it. But then they heard it again. This time it was clearl. A girl yelling "I can't swim! Help!" Timuss got her binoculars out and spotted the girl floating in the North Thompson River, only her head visible. Mulcahy ran across her back yard onto the dirt road in front of their home, where she saw her neighbours Avtar and Paul Hothi....

I contacted my local Sikh temple to tell them that online conservatives are aware that Sikhs are often very concerned at times like this, that we try to educate and inform and are with them. I hope you do, too. Pardon the vanity, please.

OTTAWA — The Liberal government is intent on buying Super Hornet fighter jets, according to multiple sources. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet reportedly discussed the issue last week, and while no formal decision was taken, one top-level official said: “They have made up their minds and are working on the right narrative to support it.” Rather than a full replacement of the air force’s aging CF-18 fighter fleet, it’s believed the purchase will be labelled an interim measure to fill what Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has warned is a pending “gap” in Canada’s military capabilities. The Liberals promised during the...

FULL TITLE: Sikh man pulled off Greyhound bus after being falsely accused of terror bomb threat - before being held for 30 hours by police and photographed without his turban A Sikh man is demanding authorities bring charges against a woman who falsely accused him of making a bomb threat and led to him being pulled off a Greyhound bus at gunpoint, detained for 30 hours and photographed without his turban. Daljeet Singh, who is from the Punjab region of India, had been travelling by Greyhound from Phoenix, Arizona, to Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 21, when another passenger reported he...

In what is fantastic news for religious liberty, the U.S. Army granted a Sikh soldier a long-term accommodation to serve in the military while wearing a beard and turban. Captain Simratpal Singh, a West Point graduate who received a Bronze Star in Afghanistan, had previously cut his hair and beard while serving, but filed a request for accommodation in October of 2015. That accommodation was granted today. As part of the accommodation, the turbans worn have to be either black or camouflage. Three other Sikhs are seeking a similar accommodation before beginning Basic Combat Training, but according to the Sikh...

Celebrity fashion designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia was not allowed to board a plane yesterday because he was wearing a turban. The Sikh American celebrity - who you may know from Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, several magazines' best-dressed lists, New York Fashion Week, and a famous Gap ad - tweeted about his experience as it was happening in an effort to raise awareness. While on his way to board an Aeromexico flight from Mexico City to New York City on Monday morning, Sikh American Ahluwalia was stopped by security personnel who asked him to remove his turban. As...

...it appears that Trump was talking about a Make America Great Again hat when he made the comment, and one of the protesters only happened to be wearing a turban.

<p>Chicago - Members of the Sikh religion are feeling more uneasy amid simmering anti-Muslim sentiment because many are being mistaken for Muslims.</p> <p>But instead of distancing themselves, Sikhs increasingly are working with Muslims to combat hateful rhetoric and dispel misconceptions about their respective faiths.</p>

New York, Dec 15 (PTI) - In a suspected hate-related incident, an Indian-origin store clerk was shot in the face during a struggle with an unidentified man who called him a terrorist and part of the ISIS terror group as he tried to rob the store, a media report said. The clerk, whose name was not released, worked at a store in Michigan owned by Sikh-American businessman Inderjit Singh. The clerk sustained injuries and was released from hospital over the weekend. He told co-workers that the robber called him a "terrorist" because he is of Indian descent, according to a...

On his first day at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Simratpal Singh sat in a barber chair where new cadets get their hair buzzed short, forced to choose between showing his faith and living it. Cadet Singh had grown up a Sikh. As part of his faith, he had never cut his hair or beard. But his faith also encouraged protection of the oppressed, which inspired him to join the Army. The Army would not allow a soldier with long hair or a beard, so that day he watched his locks drop to the floor. “Your self-image,...

Big changes are underway in Ottawa since the Liberals’ big election win. One of these is the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Harjit Sajjan, a former anti-gang police detective, highly decorated soldier, military intelligence genius, and Canada’s newest Minister of Defense. Sajjan moved to Canada from India when he was just five years old. Joining the military at 18 after being initially rejected, he served one tour in Bosnia, three tours in Afghanistan, and was the first Sikh to command a Canadian Army regiment. In other words, this is one bad-ass, been-there-done-that Cabinet officer. During his time time in Afghanistan, he...

Large-hearted Sikhs have taken their traditional community kitchen to one of the most dangerous places on earth today - Syria. Giving a twist to the concept of langar, a group of Punjabi NRIs has collaborated with locals to provide fresh bread to nearly 14,000 refugees daily in the strife-torn region for several months now. Langar Aid, an extension of UK-based NGO Khalsa Aid, is located in the Pesh Harbour area, about 35km from the Kurdish city of Duhok and 10km from the Syrian border. Almost 70% of the members of Langar Aid are with Punjabi roots, besides some European...

New York - In a hate crime, an elderly Sikh-American man was brutally assaulted and left with severe facial injuries by an assailant who yelled racial slurs like "terrorist" and "Bin Laden", just before the US commemorates the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Inderjit Singh Mukker of Chicago was assaulted on September 8 when the assailant pulled up to his car yelling racial slurs, including, "Terrorist, go back to your country, Bin Laden!" Advocacy group The Sikh Coalition said it spoke with Darien Police Chief Ernest Brown and were informed that authorities are investigating the case as a hate crime....

New York: A Sikh-American employee at the Walt Disney World in Florida, who was barred from working in view of the guests due his religious appearance, for seven years, has achieved a significant victory, with the company agreeing to end the segregation and accommodate his religious beliefs. Gurdit Singh had been employed as a mail carrier at the popular amusement park in 2008 but was told by his Disney bosses that he would not be permitted to run mail routes visible to park guests because his religious appearance "violated" the company's 'Look Policy,' according to the rights group Sikh Coalition. In a letter...