Rajinder Singh Khalsa

Rajinder Singh Khalsa and his cousin Gurcharan Singh were attacked on July 11, 2004 outside a restaurant in Richmond Hill, Queens, NYC, New York

The victim, 54 year old Rajinder Singh Khalsa, was walking to the Tandoori Express Restaurant with his cousin Gurcharan Singh. The encounter began when a man accompanied by two women and another man, yelled at Gurcharan Singh, "give me my curtain." Not understanding the man, Gurcharan Singh asked him what he meant. The man than pointed to Gurcharan Singh's turban and said, "that is my curtain give it to me." Gurcharan Singh then tried to explain that his turban is an article of the Sikh faith. The man kept yelling at Gurcharan Singh, trying to grab his turban and remove it from his head. Rajinder Singh then tried to explain to the men the significance of the turban. Afraid that they would be further attacked, Gurcharan Singh called the police.

A phone call and a threat of Death

When the men found out he called the police, one of them said, "If you called the cops, if the cops come to my home, I will come back here and kill you." The men then went back into a nearby restaurant where they were celebrating a child's christening. After approximately five minutes, five men came out of the restaurant. They yelled at Gurcharan Singh, punching him twice while saying "go back to your country." When Rajinder Singh intervened, the men threw him to the ground. They began kicking and punching Rajinder Singh, again yelling "go back to your country."

Though the attackers escaped in two cars, Gurcharan Singh was able to retrieve the license plate numbers of both vehicles. He also retrieved a cell phone left by one of the assailants at the scene and a witnesses statement lead the police to one of the attackers.

Rajinder Singh was left unconscious as a result of the beating. His nose was broken, one eye remains swollen shut and the other eye is still blood shot. Doctors at the hospital to which he was rushed stated that one of his corneas was scratched.

The irony of the incident is that while the drunken hooligans who attacked Mr Singh Khalsa apparently thought that he and his cousin were Muslims - Khalsa had earned an award from the Red Cross for his voluntary service in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

As reported in The Tribune

5 charged with beating up Sikh in USA

Friday, July 30, 2004, Chandigarh, India

New York, July 29

The police have charged five persons with harassing and beating up a Sikh in a suburb of New York after hurling insults on him and his companion.

They could get up to 15 years of imprisonment if convicted.

In the July 12 incident, Mr Rajinder Singh Khalsa (54), suffered multiple cuts, bruises and broken nose in the Richmond section of Queens, a suburb of New York.

Mr Khalsa, along with his cousin Mr Gurcharan Singh, was walking towards a restaurant, Tandoori Express, owned by Singh after parking their car, when they were confronted by drunken men who ridiculed their turbans calling them dirty curtains and asking them to take them off.

When Mr Khalsa tried to explain that they were Sikhs and their turbans were their religious symbol, the accused started beating up, kicking and hitting him till he fell unconscious.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the arrested men had been charged with multiple counts, including second-degree assault. — 'PTI

From stories assembled by the Pluralism Project

Jul 13, 2004

Newsday

On July 13, 2004 Newsday reported, "A Long Island man was arrested yesterday in the Richmond Hill attack of an honorary Sikh priest that stemmed from an argument over the turban the victim was wearing.

Witnesses to the attack led police to arrest Salvatore Maceli, 26, of Valley Stream. Police said Maceli was with a group of men who allegedly attacked Rajinder Singh, 54, Sunday outside of Il Palazzo di Villa Russo, a catering hall on the corner of Lefferts Boulevard and 101st Street.

Maceli was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court last night on a charge of third-degree assault as a hate crime. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison."

Dec 23, 2005

Rediff

On December 23, 2005 Rediff reported, "Five men were sentenced to jail for terms ranging from five days to two years for the harassment and brutal beating of a Sikh man in New York in July 2004.

The men were convicted on Thursday of attacking Rajinder Singh Khalsa, 50, outside a restaurant in New York's Queens borough... Salvatore Maceli was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of post-parole supervision while Nicholas was sentenced to six months in jail, five years probation, and ordered to do 150 hours of community service with the Sikh Coalition, a rights group... Meehan was sentenced to 60 days in jail, three years probation and 150 hours of community service with the Sikh Coalition and Lyons 20 days in jail, three years probation and 50 hours of community service with the Sikh group. [Victor] Cosentino was sentenced to five days in jail."

Aug 18, 2006

Indian Press

On August 18, 2006 the Indian Press reported, "When Rajinder Singh Khalsa, 57, gets up in the morning, he often sees a ‘white hole’ with his left eye. Sunlight is anathema for him, as he cannot focus on anything for minutes afterwards. Many a night, he gets up screaming from his sleep; he has terrible nightmares of imminent danger, he says. He is obsessively protective of his family. When walking outside his home in New York City, he avoids eye contact with strangers. 'I still feel when somebody looks at me, he will attack me,' he explained.

It’s been more than two years since Khalsa was brutally attacked by a group of five white men when he was walking near his home. A resident of Ozone Park, a pocket where more than 25,000 Sikhs live in the borough of Queens, Khalsa had earned an award from the Red Cross for his voluntary service in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In a city that boasts South Asian-dominated areas like Jackson Heights and Flushing, Khalsa was caught unaware when the men jumped on his chest, punched and kicked him till he lost consciousness. 'Bin Laden! Terrorist!' his attackers hollered, as they taunted his turban, religion and his ethnicity and rained down blows.

Only two of the men were convicted under the hate crime law, while the others got off with a bias crime charge. Khalsa pleaded with the judge who convicted the men to various sentences to also include community service at gurdwaras, so that his attackers come to know and understand the Sikh community and religion. To realize that the turban, long beard and the traditional kurta that Khalsa and most other Sikhs wear may have an uncanny resemblance to footage shown on television of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda members, but in reality the Muslim and Sikh faith are as apart from each other as chalk and cheese... 'I realize that not everybody is bad,' said Khalsa, dressed in a safari suit, often sighing as memories of the past return to haunt him. 'But I cannot shake off this feeling of danger.'"

Suit Filed

A year Mr. Rajinder Singh filed a civil suit against his attackers, and the restaurant that had sold the alchoholic beverages to his five attackers, marking the first time a Sikh hate crime victim filed a civil suit against his attackers. The damage to his face which included a broken nose and many fractures to the orbital bones surrounding his eye resulted in massive medical bills. As the lawyers representing Mr. Singh said the suit was also to send a message that victims can and should stand up for their rights.