Congratulations @realDonaldTrump on your election as the 45th President of United States of America

RAJU CHINTHALA, Speech Language Pathologist and US political advocate is a dear friend of Governor Pence, knows many leaders in Indiana and was an alternate delegate the Republican National Convention. We can imagine Raju serving in some political capacity in the future.

 Indiana's Bicentennial Year became all the more exciting with this amazing news about a distinguished Indiana public servant and statesman. Our hearts are filled with optimism. Hearty congratulations to Honorable Mike Pence, the 48th Vice President-Elect of the United States of America. God bless President-Elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States and God bless America and Americans of every faith, culture, origin, and nationality that make the USA home and contribute immeasurably to her strengths and assets.

We send a joyous shout of thanksgiving for our beloved Nation for a peaceful democratic, free, and fair election and pray for a smooth transition of power and awesome responsibility to the newly elected leaders at every level to lead this Nation.

According to Tejinder Bains, Esq., an attorney in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, President Trump will name one but could name possibly three U.S. Supreme Court judges who will serve for life. His Cabinet will help him decide who the next nominees for Justices should be. They will also recommend what policies to pursue. The expectation is that the Cabinet members will likely come from the group Trump considers the "forgotten man." If media speculation is right, Trump's Cabinet, as will any Supreme Court nominee, will likely have the same conservative background and ideology.

According to Mr. Bains, "it would be a tragedy for the Sikh community if because of Trump's choices the standard under which government can infringe upon religious rights were to change for the worse. Today, the government may not infringe directly or indirectly on religious rights unless it can show a "compelling interest. Government must also show that it used a least restrictive method to achieve that interest in order to pass constitutional muster," states Mr. Bains. "This is a high standard imposed by statute." "In the 1990s, a conservative Supreme Court, in 6 to 3 vote, held that the test should be the broader "health and safety" standard," says Mr.Bains. "What this could mean for Sikhs, and other religious minorities, is that the so called "hard hat" and other religious rights cases that come before the Court could be decided in favor of greater government intrusion not necessarily in favor of respect for the individual's right to exercise his or her religion." Taken a step further," states Mr. Bains, "what little progress has been made on religious freedom policies coming from federal agencies could be reversed."

If a conservative Cabinet spells reversal of First Amendment, freedom of religion clause, policies, then the Trump administration would have forgotten the true "forgotten man" and "forgotten woman." Reversal of recent progressive laws and policies could mean that Sikhs and other communities could be forced to continue to compromise rights in order to obtain or hold jobs or even to be allowed to participate in civic life. For example, conservative laws that require uniformity in law enforcement, or paternalistic safety regulations that impose hard hats or helmets regulations or bans across the board on Kirpans in courts and other public spaces create unnecessary barriers for Sikhs that want to join the military or serve jury duty but not forego their sincerely held religious beliefs that mandate that they carry their five articles of faith.

The lack of gender representation on the Trump Cabinet may spell a significant ideological change in the laws that affect women as well.

President-elect Trump has not yet chosen his Cabinet. There are only hopes that he will fulfil the promise to represent all Americans and whether he will or not we will know soon enough. In the meantime, the Sikh community should prepare. This means members of the Gurdwaras should remain vigilant and participate in Department of Home Security (DHS) Preparedness programs as they have been. It is also important that members push locally for hate crime prevention legislation and improved race relations at the grassroots level. Communities should work with police and law enforcement to ensure that these become diversified and representative of the communities they serve. Anti bullying discourse should also continue in order to strengthen the progress made so far. Over the last few years what has worked are local policies that provide due process in dealing with bullying in schools, locally teaching children to understand and appreciate other cultures, providing multicultural books in the curriculum and in reading recommendations and pairing children of similar age with peers of different backgrounds throughout the school year.

It is also important that Sikh community leaders collaborate to build and improve relationships with government. UNITED SIKHS has been a leader in this regard. We look forward to the challenges ahead and to petitioning the new administration whenever needed on behalf of the Sikh community. ...email dated 11/12/16;2.01pm