Racial attack on Sikh gas station set on fire in Virginia, USA

Los Angeles, November 28, 2004
India Daily

In yet another racial attack on the members of the US Sikh community who are misunderstood for Muslims, a gas station owned by two Sikhs at Chesterfield in Virginia has been set on fire and vandalized.

According the Sikh Coalition which monitors race-related issues in the US, the attackers put the gas station on fire on Wednesday and left after smearing the remaining property with graffiti containing ethnic slurs.

The words "Go Back to Bin Laden B..." and "Never Again Indian Monkey Nig***" were sprayed on a dumpster in the rear of the gas station property. In addition, the words, "F*** Arab Gas" were spray painted on the gas station's shed.

Gas station owners, Sarabjit Singh and Sukhjinder Singh, said no graffiti existed on the gas station property before the fire.

The Sikh Coalition has reported the matter to both the Civil Rights Division of the United States Justice Department and the FBI. The Chesterfield County Police department are investigating the incident.

"This is a difficult moment for the Sikh community of the Richmond area," said Amandeep Singh, a long time resident of Chesterfield. "We are pleased with the cooperation of the local county police and their determination to find the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident,'' he said.

The Sikh Coalition has urged the Richmond area Sikh community to remain calm in the wake of the incident. Police officials have assured the community that all leads are being pursued, including the possible hate motive. Many members of the community have been the target of racial attacks even since 9/11.

A few months ago, fifty-year-old Rajinder Singh Bammi, a limousine service provider, was attacked by four persons in New York. "I was just walking by them in a restaurant when they pounced upon me," he recalls. Bammi suffered multiple injuries and his case made national headlines. He was featured by national dailies and the New Yorker magazine.

In the wake of the terror strikes of September 11, 2001, Sikhs in general and cabbies in particular, became the target of racial violence because of their resemblance to Middle East Muslims. "Now they call us Osama bin Laden. In 1979, when Iranians held Americans hostage, they used to call us Ayatollahs,'' says Bammi.