Kerry Comments on sikhs

[Cali_Khalsa]

WJKK, WJKF:

Clearly, there are some here who are unable to engage in a serious, articulate, and well thought out point of view that can be supported by facts in discussing this topic. I will not names, but I believe they know who they are...

The fact that President Bush may or may not have invited a Sikh to come to White House is irrelevant. This is indicative of the misguided thinking that plagues many in our community who fall for this sort of " window dressing." Simply put, talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words. Mr. Bush has supported policies that encourage racial profiling against Sikhs and the taking away of our civil liberties to say the very least. I do not vote on a single issue. Rather I look at the sum total of a candidate's positions on a wide range of issues such as foreign policy, education, health care, etc.

As far as a public apology goes on Sen. Kerry’s part, I am quietly working behind the scenes with other concerned and involved members of the community to encourage Sen. Kerry to follow-up on what I believe is a sincere and contrite apology, by coming to speak to the Sikh Community here in California before the primary election on March 2nd. I shall do my best to keep the members of this forum posted on all the latest developments.

Now, for all the talk and criticism that has and continues to be leveled against Sen. Kerry here, I think one would be hard pressed in finding a Western politician in this day and age who has publicly gone on record as supporting our brave warriors and calling them "freedom fighters." They will not do that people, at least not on the record. It makes no sense for them to do that. They

are politicians after all!

Sen. Kerry is hardly alone in this thinking. I am sure if you were to ask President Bush and folks in his administration whether or not there are terrorist elements within the Sikh community they would say there are indeed, despite what you or I might say otherwise. In fact I believe it was under his administration’s watch the groups that I cited before were officially banned and/or they continued to believe that they should. This goes way beyond one man’s thinking. It is an entire culture of thinking that we are up against from both sides of the aisle.

If the choice is between Kerry and Bush this fall, I believe that choice is clear. As was said before, we are all entitled to our own opinion(s). That’s the beauty of living in a free and democratic society. However, I believe that I have vigorously outlined my position and supported it with facts in the context of today’s political realities, which is more than I can say for some of you here.

-Gurfateh

[mschawla]

I tend to agree quite a bit (but not completely) with the arguments presented by Cali Khalsa. We have to be pregmatic instead of full of emotions. I agree that we are hurt quite a bit and emotions do play a role in our lives. I like Cali Khalsa 's approach pf quietly working behind the scenes to modify Kerry's thinking by presenting him with the facts as we know them convincing him about the trecherous role of supplying mis-information and aboslute lies by the Indian Government. Cali Khalsa's approach should be accepted and appreciated so long it can and achieve the ultimate goal of convincing the leaders about the truth so that they can take necessary action not to malign Sikhs in USA.

[ekdaas]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

I have received an email from a friend and saw same at akj.org

Statement from John Kerry, February 6, 2004

"It has been brought to my attention that remarks I made on Saturday, January 31 have been misunderstood to imply that adherents of the Sikh faith condone terrorism. Nothing could be farther from the truth and I regret that the imprecision of my statement led to this misunderstanding.

"I am deeply sorry for the offense caused by this comment. I was, of course, referring to specific terrorist groups, which have invoked Sikhism and committed past acts of terror in India. I realize that, like me, the vast majority of Sikhs in the United States and worldwide abhor terrorism. I also know that stereotypes, discrimination, and abuse haunt Sikh Americans living and working in this nation. Sikh Americans have made enormous and invaluable contributions to our nation for which I am exceedingly grateful.

"Throughout my legislative career I have worked to protect people of all religious faiths, including Sikhs. I have supported legislation condemning bigotry and acts of violence or discrimination against Sikh Americans, and I have fought to prohibit the practice of racial profiling and for a stronger hate crimes law. I have also le

d the effort in the Senate to enact the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, which would protect religious observance in the workplace. My legislation has been supported by the Sikh Council on Religion and Education among many other religious groups.

"I will continue my work for and with the Sikh community and other religious groups as President of the United States."