Floral Park Man Charged In Hate Attack Against Sikh

[lovekhalistan]

A Floral Park man is facing hate crime charges after he allegedly punched a Sikh man in the face and broke his jaw before shouting racial slurs outside the man's temple, Queens DA Richard Brown said.

David C. Wood, 36, of 76-52 263rd St., allegedly told Chadha Jabeet "Arab, go back to your country" when Shabeet was about to enter a Sikh Temple at 222-34 95th Ave. in New Hyde Park Jan. 14, Brown said.

Wood then allegedly told Jabeet, 63, "you don't listen" and punched him in the face, the DA said. Jabeet's nose and jaw were broken in the attack.

On Sunday night the congregation of the temple, members of Queens' Sikh community and civic leaders held a candlelight vigil to protest the ignorance that fed into the attack on Jabeet, which attendees said was sparked by the Sikh man's choice of a parking spot.

One of the speakers, Rajinder Singh Khalsa, was a victim of a bias attack in Richmond Hill in 2004, when he was beaten and left unconscious at the corner of Lefferts Boulevard and 101st Avenue.

"My 10th guru said we all have the right to life, liberty and to seek happiness, the same as in the American Constitution," he said. "Hate has no place in humanity, no place in American culture."

Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world, with a following of about 20 million people, but ignorance persists about this monotheistic faith whose roots can be traced back to the northern Indian state of Punjab. The men wear beards and must wear a turban, according to the tenets of the faith. Especially after Sept. 11, 2001, Sikhs throughout the country were often attacked because of their turbans, which some people mistook for a Taliban headdress.

"Sikhs are targeted because of our appearance. There's a lot of ignorance, anger and hate," said Jaspreet Singh, a staff attorney for United Sikhs.

Hardayal Singh, director for North America of United Sikhs, said the way to help Jabeet now is to support him, attend the court proceedings, make Sikhs a visible presence so that they gain acceptance.

"[He] could've been my father, my brother, my uncle. This was a 63-year-old man bludgeoned outside this temple by a young man. We need to show who we are, bring [people] into our temples," Singh said.

Wood faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. He was arraigned Jan. 16 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gene Lopez on charges of assault as a hate crime, assault and aggravated harassment, Brown said.

"Crimes motivated by bias Ð particularly those involving violence Ð will never be tolerated in this county," the DA said in a statement. "When they do regrettably occur, they will be vigorously prosecuted and those involved will be severely punished."

Brown said Jabeet, who is on a liquid diet due to his injuries, will need surgery on his nose and will have a medical consultation on what to do about his jaw after the swelling goes down.

Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.

[mann_kaum_layee_qurbaan]

eventually people have to fight back. i could never imagine a Muslim getting beat up in front of a Mosque without the worshippers inside coming to their fellow Muslim's rescue.

i don't know what the real facts are, but from what i've read their was a diwan going on inside the gurdwara and no one from the sangat did anything about the attack.

getting beat up every day and then holding a candle light vigil is getting old now.

maybe all the hardcore "looking" singhs and kaurs with the cool "looking" bana and huge dastaars, nice looking gaatre, sri sahibs, can help the elderly around gurdwara property park their cars and walk safely inside. it was said that sangat members have had issues with this neighbor for a while and sangat was warned about parking near his house.

thodi anakh wi ta huni chaidi ah sikhaa wich. harek waar jhutiyaan kha ki kaadi anakh rehe gayee.

gurdwaras should at least educate its surrounding neighbors as to what they do inside a gurdwara and what they preach there. cause otherwise people are just gonna assume its some taliban training center with some weird looking dudes with something wrapped on their heads. this may sound bad but trust me, not everyone sees a gurdwara and says, hey that is a sikh temple, the sikhs, the fifth largest religion in the world blah blah....

i know this is a bit off topic but we moved to a new naighborhood and this gora kid was messing with our mailbox. he put dirty magazines in it a couple times.

i have a sword i had brought back from amritsar sahib which sits in my bedroom. my dad saw the dirty magazines in the mailbox. he goes straight to my bedroom, gets the sword, stands in the middle of the street, unsheaths the sword, and at teh top of his lungs, yells at the kids house, if i ever see you messing with my mailbox again, i'll get you boy.

so our neighbors are like freaked out, seeing this arab looking man(my dad is a mona), yelling on the top of his lungs waving a sword in the air.

but you know what, we never had a problem ever again.

and the funniest thing was the next day my brother's friend tells him, man your dad was p^*^ssed. hehehe

anyways, i thought it was pretty cool.

peace.

[Bhujangi]

Vah...

I totally agree with you. In places are are prone to trouble there should be people on watch to some extent.

The town im from there are only a few sikh families, but there are a lot of muslims. The gurdwara isnt in a good area and is right opposite a small mosque. I know some of the guys who go to the mosque when i was at college and trust me they aint the peace loving lets all get on kind.

There was one or two incidents, one where a drunk hooligan stood outside the gurdwara and challenged everyone to a fight. Some of the tyaar bur tyaar singhs went out and told him to get lost. He didnt and started swearing so they all went up to him and had a "word". He left abruptly.

The muslim always try a few funny things. Dropping off wierd lit in the mailbox. Not letting some sangat park on the road. YOu just gotta make a presence not to incite violence or a confrontation but when comes to you dont hold a candle vigil do what the veers dad did. Let em know we are the sons of the greatest warriors.

Trust me, im AAALLL for peace and good relations but i stand for sangat benig harrassed.

Waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh