Sikh student honoured

[sarblohsingh2004]

Vaheguru Jee Ka Khalsa, Vaheguru Jee Kee Fateh !

http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/08/stories/2005050813761400.htm

Sikh student honoured

Award for fighting post-September 11 prejudice "We were forced into a situation where we could mask our identity or become more proud of it"

RICHMOND: As he watched smoke billow from the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Amandeep Singh Sidhu's anger over the attack on his country slowly changed to trepidation over the misguided backlash he knew he and other Sikhs would face from other irate Americans. His fear proved well founded that afternoon when a motorist, apparently provoked by the sight of Sidhu's turban, tried to run him off the road. Sidhu resolved that rather than hide his faith and heritage, he would fight post-9/11 prejudice against Sikhs and other minorities — an endeavour that helped him win the Virginia State Bar's Oliver W Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award.

Sidhu, 27, will receive the award on Thursday at the University of Richmond Law School, where he received his degree on Saturday. ``Amandeep is the strongest law student leader I have encountered in over 20 years as a legal educator,'' said law school Dean Rodney A. Smolla, who nominated Sidhu for the award. Sidhu, the son of physicians originally from Punjab, was born in Norfolk and grew up near Richmond. He recalls a relatively typical American childhood of soccer and Little League and portraying Abraham Lincoln in the elementary school play, but even then he found himself explaining to classmates why his family was different.

In high school, he adopted the Sikh practice of wearing a turban to cover his uncut hair. At the College of William and Mary, he was the third Sikh to join the campus chapter of Phi KappaTau fraternity. . ``Sikhism teaches that all human beings are equal and can realise the divine within them through devotion to God, truthful living and service to humanity,'' says a pamphlet from the New York-based Sikh Coalition, of which Sidhu is a founding member.

Overwhelming feeling

After graduating with a degree in economics and government, Sidhu was working as a business analyst for a defence contractor when terrorists crashed hijacked airplanes into New York's World Trade Center, a Pennsylvania field and the Pentagon, about three kms from his office. Sidhu could see the smoke from his office window. ``It was an overwhelming feeling, the emotions we all had as Americans because we were being attacked,'' he said. That was followed by a realisation that Sikhs and other minorities could be an easy target for people.

The reports started rolling in by e-mail and the television news. As he drove home later, many motorists honked and glared at Sidhu. When one tried to run him off the road, Sidhu slowed down and the enraged man sped away. ``It was a stark reminder — I was not going to be immune to the prejudice,'' Sidhu said. In the few days after September 11, he learnt that many Sikhs had endured similar ordeals.

``We were forced into a situation where we could mask our identity or become more proud of it,'' Sidhu said. He chose the latter, stepping up his efforts individually and through the Sikh Coalition to educate people about his faith and to battle prejudice. He worked on such issues as racial profiling, employment discrimination, post-9/11 security practices and discussions with filmmakers and video game manufacturers about racist portrayals of Sikhs.Sidhu said he is humbled to be chosen for an award named for Hill, the Richmond civil rights pioneer. ``The idea that we are not to just be lawyers but to be citizens — not just make a living, but serve our community — Oliver Hill exemplified that,'' Sidhu said. — AP