State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar (D-AD 38) on Sunday gathered a whole bunch of members of the Sikh-American neighborhood on the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Heart temple in South Richmond Hill, Queens within the wake of current hate crimes towards the neighborhood.
The assemblywoman delivered to the neighborhood New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams, who carried out a press convention, and query and reply together with Assemblywoman Rajkumar.
Rajkumar organized the press convention after two current hate crimes towards the Sikh-American neighborhood in October.
She stated hate crimes towards Sikhs elevated by 140 p.c in 2021 alone.
With a packed room of Sikh leaders, Rajkumar and Adams charted a path ahead with the Sikh neighborhood.
They introduced their plan for a citywide marketing campaign to teach the general public on the generosity, inclusivity and bravado of the Sikh individuals, together with how Sikhs are tasked to be the protectors of the weak.
“We have to clearly educate individuals to what this neighborhood stands for and what you signify,” Adams stated. “You aren’t about terror: you’re our protector.
“Assemblywoman Rajkumar has been clear, and she or he has represented you in Albany and within the streets of the town,” he added. “She is a accomplice with our regulation enforcement neighborhood and Metropolis Corridor.
“You elected the primary Punjabi lady and first South Asian lady to Albany, and she or he has lived as much as the expectation,” Adams continued.
Rajkumar stated she was heart-broken, describing the current crimes towards the Sikh neighborhood as “devastating.”
“However now, it’s time for us to rise up and take motion,” stated the daughter of the Punjab, a state in North India, whose ancestors are from Amritsar, from the Outdated Metropolis of Patti. The area of Punjab is the guts of the Sikh Group.
Like many Punjabi households throughout the US, Rajkumar’s household migrated to the US for the American Dream, settling in New York, the place she was born and raised.
She stated she was “proud” to now be the State Assemblywoman for the neighborhood of Richmond Hill, identified by many as “Little Punjab.”
“Since I used to be a toddler, my uncle at all times advised me, ‘The Sikhs are our protectors. The Sikhs are the protectors of society. However now, we have to ask, ‘who’s defending the Sikhs? ‘And the reply is us,” Rajkumar stated.
“We’ll defend the Sikhs. New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and I are each right here. You might be right here,” she added. “For the primary time, we’re going to use the levers of presidency to finish hate crimes towards Sikh Individuals. For the primary time, we’re going to come collectively and educate New York State, the US and the complete world about who the Sikh individuals really are so we’re not attacked and misunderstood.
“Sadly, Sikh-Individuals are amongst our nation’s most focused non secular teams due to their distinct look, carrying turbans on their head,” stated Rajkumar, stating that, not too long ago, 4 Sikh Individuals have been fatally shot within the tragic mass taking pictures in Indianapolis; a 70-year-old Sikh man was assaulted in Queens final yr; “and now, the hateful incidents of final week.”
“Let me make it abundantly clear: Quantity One: The hateful focusing on of Sikhs shouldn’t be acceptable, and any perpetrators who come after the Sikh individuals might be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the regulation,” she added.
“Quantity Two: We’ll be a part of with Mayor Adams to inform the world who the Sikh persons are. Folks misunderstand the Sikh tradition. We’ll inform the world about langar, how the Sikh neighborhood feeds everybody of each religion daily,” the assemblywoman continued. “Each Sikh Temple welcomes individuals of any background, religion, revenue stage, gender or race to return in daily without cost, freshly made meals.
“We’ll inform the world how Sikhs are required to defend and defend individuals of each religion, as if it have been their very own religion,” she continued. “We’ll inform the world concerning the Sikh observe of seva, selfless service. We’ll inform the world that Sikhism teaches that there’s divinity in everybody of any religion, and that Sikhs consider in defending the welfare of all of humanity.”
Rajkumar stated it was not the primary time she’s been talking out towards hate crimes towards the Sikh Group, however added that she wished “to be standing right here speaking about hate crimes.
“Beginning proper now, we’re going to finish the hateful focusing on of Sikhs,” she stated. “You have got me, the primary Punjabi elected official. And now we have Mayor Eric Adams who will give us a nationwide platform. You have got our full 500 p.c dedication.
“It is a darkish time, nevertheless it is only one second in our journey,” she stated, noting that it was precisely 100 years in the past, in 1923, that the US Supreme Court docket dominated, in United States v. Bhagat Singh, that Indians couldn’t be residents of this nation.
“And now, have a look at us 100 years later, in 2023: Sikhs quantity over half one million throughout this nation, and are thriving in all fields,” stated Rajkumar, giving Adams a “present kirpan to embolden” him within the combat for the Sikh Group.
She stated all Sikhs are required to hold a kirpan that symbolizes the Sikh’s dedication to combat for the defenseless and for many who can not combat for themselves.
“And at present, we present you with one, as we thanks for combating for us and in your safety,” Rajkumar advised Adams.
The sword is engraved with the phrases, “To our protector New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams.”
