Sikh Grandfather Mistaken For Taliban, Stabbed In Hate Crime

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Sikh Grandfather Mistaken for Taliban, Stabbed in Hate Crime

India West , News Report, Ketaki Gokhale, Aug 11, 2006

A Santa Clara Sikh man was the victim of a July 30 stabbing that authorities allege was a hate crime. The incident comes on the heels of a recent spike in hate crimes in the surrounding areas of this San Francisco Bay Area county. On average, five hate crimes are reported each month in Santa Clara County, but 13 such crimes were reported in June, according to the local Network for a Hate-Free Community.

Iqbal Singh, 66, was standing with his 2-year-old granddaughter in his family's carport in the 3400 block of Agate Drive, waiting to depart for a religious service at the San Jose Gurdwara, when he was stabbed once in the neck with a steak knife. Everett Thompson, the 25-year-old assailant, was a neighbor who said in police interviews that he stabbed Singh because he wanted to kill a Taliban.

"We didn't know [Thompson] before," Gurmeet Singh, Iqbal Singh's brother-in-law, told India-West. "He didn't speak. He just walked very close. Iqbal asked, 'What's the matter?' and as soon as he asked, [Thompson] stabbed him."

Iqbal Singh then ran toward his family's apartment building with Thompson in pursuit. At the same time, the rest of the Singh family, including Iqbal Singh's son and daughter-in-law, emerged from the apartment. Thompson fled the scene when he caught sight of them.

Thompson was arrested at his home shortly thereafter, where police also found the weapon he used, said Jay Boyarsky, who oversees hate-crime prosecutions for the Santa Clara County district attorney, in a San Francisco Chronicle report. Thompson was arraigned in a San Jose courtroom Aug. 2 on premeditated murder and hate crime charges, Deputy District Attorney Peter Waite told India-West. Thompson did not, at that time, enter a plea. "His attorney asked for a continuance, so he will be back Aug. 10," said Waite. "The point of that is to allow the attorney more time. He believes that there may be mental problems with his client and needs time to evaluate him."

Thompson is being held in custody without bail. If convicted of the attack, he could face a sentence of life in prison.

At press time, Iqbal Singh was in stable condition at a local hospital. His granddaughter was unhurt. "It's a big shock," Gurmeet Singh told India-West. "And, yes, it is a hate crime. But life has to go on. These are the incidents that can happen to anybody." When asked if he feels unsafe, Gurmeet Singh responded, "I don't feel that we're so afraid that we'd move from one place to another for this reason."

Area South Asians, and Sikhs in particular, have expressed horror and fear over the recent spate of violence. Annie Dandavati, a local community activist and the founder of the South Asian advocacy group Coalition 2001, told India-West, "We are always concerned when we hear about an act of violence that meets the criteria of a hate crime. First, we have the danger of copycat crimes. Second, it tends to generate feelings of fear, panic and insecurity in members of the group. This in turn could lead people to over-react." To quell community fears, Dandavati organized a discussion Aug. 2 at the San Jose Gurdwara in which a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice and San Jose Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez spoke.

"Incidents such as this have become all too common in the aftermath of 9/11," Dandavati told India-West. Sikhs, whose traditional turbans are vaguely similar to those worn by the Muslim Taliban, are frequently the targets in these hate crimes. According to the Sikh Coalition, at least two Bay Area Sikh cab drivers have been shot to death since Sept. 11, 2001, and another was severely beaten. In 2004, bullets struck the entry sign for a Solano County gurdwara and in 2001, a 3-year-old Sikh boy was hit by a Molotov cocktail hurled through the window of his home. "They are examples of hatred that stems from ignorance," said Dandavati. "They point to a real need to continue our campaign of education."

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