40% Of Sikhs Get Harrassed In School

[Punjabi_Link]

More than three quarters of Queens' Sikh students say they have been harassed in school because of their religious identity, a new survey has found.

About 200 Sikh students, most of them from Richmond Hill and Flushing - neighborhoods with large South Asian populations - were questioned over the last six months by the Sikh Coalition advocacy group.

"When I was walking home from the subway, somebody asked me if I was a terrorist," one respondent said.

"I used to wear a turban when I was small," another said. "People would say things like 'Get out of my country!'"

City officials and advocates this week demanded that Education Department officials do more to protect Sikh students following an attack last week on a Sikh student at Newtown High School.

Classmates of Harpaal Vacher, a 15-year-old Sikh boy, cut off his hair in a school bathroom.

Vacher said he used to have waist-length hair; the attack left it at shoulder length.

The alleged attackers, Waqas Ali, 15, and Umair Ahmed, 17, both Muslim Pakistani immigrants, were arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment, coercion, menacing and aggravated harassment. The Police Department hate crimes unit launched an investigation.

Police sources said the suspects explained that they cut Vacher's hair in retaliation for a "Yo Mama" taunt.

Sikhs are required by religious law to keep their hair long and to wear turbans as a symbol of their faith.

"Losing one's hair is like losing one's head," said Sikh Coalition executive director Amardeep Singh.

Meanwhile, the survey found that two out of five Sikh children reported being physically harassed for wearing turbans.

Close to a third of those who complained to school officials said that they never got any help.

The survey also found that of those students who were harassed, nearly 60% said it was because they are Punjabi or South Asian, and that nearly 20% of the students polled had been told they look like terrorists.

Nearly 84% of the students said educating their classmates about their religion by having someone "come to your classroom to talk about Sikhism" would be helpful.

"Starting from the bottom," said City Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), "we need to cultivate cultural and religious sensitivity among students and staff."

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http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/queens...ikh_kids-1.html

[OhTwadi]

Close to a third of those who complained to school officials said that they never got any help.

now thats just pathetic