Senator Kerry issued the apology to the Sikh community

February 6, 2004

"It has been brought to my attention that remarks I made on Saturday, January 31 have been misunderstood to imply that adherents of the Sikh faith condone terrorism. Nothing could be farther from the truth and I regret that the imprecision of my statement led to this misunderstanding.

"I am deeply sorry for the offense caused by this comment. I was, of course, referring to specific terrorist groups which have invoked Sikhism and committed past acts of terror in India. I realize that, like me, the vast majority of Sikhs in the United States and worldwide abhor terrorism.

"I also know that stereotypes, discrimination, and abuse haunt Sikh Americans living and working in this nation. Sikh Americans have made enormous and invaluable contributions to our nation for which I am exceedingly
grateful.

"Throughout my legislative career I have worked to protect people of all religious faiths, including Sikhs. I have supported legislation condemning bigotry and acts of violence or discrimination against Sikh Americans, and I have fought to prohibit the practice of racial profiling and for a stronger hate crimes law. I have also led the effort in the Senate to enact the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, which would protect religious observance in
the workplace. My legislation has been supported by the Sikh Council on Religion and Education among many other religious groups.

"I will continue my work for and with the Sikh community and other religious groups as President of the United
States."

Sikhs demand apology from US presidential candidate Senator John Kerry

FEBRUARY 06, 2004
PTI

New York: Sikh organisations in the US have taken strong exception to reported remarks of current democratic frontrunner in the US presidential race Senator John Kerry, for what they called,"singling out adherents of Sikh religion as terrorists" and demanded an apology from him.

The Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART) quoted Kerry as saying during his campaign in Oklahoma City on January 31 that terrorism did not begin on September 11, 2001. He went on to give examples of Northern Ireland, the Basque separatists in Spain and the Sikhs in India.

In a letter to Kerry, SMART said that he did not mention any religion other than Sikhs. "Based on your response, which was broadcast on C-SPAN and other news outlets, all adherents of the Sikh faith can be interpreted as condoning or being associated with terrorism," the letter said.

SMART, the oldest national Sikh American civil rights organisation, said Sikh Americans are still targets of discrimination and racial profiling as well as hate crimes based on the ignorance of individuals and stereotyping in the media.

"Your Congressional staff has long worked with SMART on workplace discrimination and hate crimes issues, and we are confident that it was not your intent to single out adherents of the Sikh faith as terrorists", it said.