‘We wear turbans and beards and may look like Osama bin Laden, but we love America just like everybody else.’
By: Gwen Runkle
Disturbed by an increase in incidents of violence and abuse toward Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and similar religious groups nationwide after the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, two local youths have decided to take some preventative measures to make sure nothing happens in their municipalities.
West Windsor resident Amar Paul Banger, 17, a senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and Plainsboro resident Jay Paul Singh, 19, a second-year pharmacy student at Rutgers University, both Sikhs, have been handing out flyers explaining their religion at their respective schools and are in the process of organizing a candlelight vigil for later this fall.
"We wear turbans and beards and may look like Osama bin Laden, but we love America just like everybody else," Amar said. "Nothing has happened around here, but someone was killed in Phoenix, Ariz. and there are reports of threats in New Jersey and New York. We are concerned."
Jay agreed. "We condemn the acts of terrorists, support America and stand united with the nation," he said. "We want to help educate the local area because not everyone knows about Sikhism."
Sikhism is separate from Islam and Hinduism and was founded by Guru Nanak 600 years ago in India. The religion stresses acceptance of all races, religions and creeds, as well as equality among men and women and people of different classes, Jay said.
"We believe in one God, we believe in an honest living and unity in peace," he explained. "Our turban and beard are for religious purposes. Sikhism is also the fifth largest religion in the world and there are 500,000 Sikhs in America."
Both Jay and Amar attend the Garden State Sikh Association Temple Gurudwara, in Bridgewater. There, they held programs for younger children educating them on what happened Sept. 11 and how to deal with potential threats or abuse. They also participated in an interfaith candlelight vigil at their temple Sept. 15.
"It is important for everyone to be educated to prevent cases of mistaken identity," Jay said. "My dorm overlooked the towers and (Sept. 11) I just stood there watching it all happen. It was not very pleasant for me to think of all the people living and working there. I know of two people who made it out when it all happened.
"So many people have been affected, even in our community. The entire Sikh-American community is deeply saddened by the attacks," he said.
West Windsor Township Police Chief Frank Cox and Plainsboro Police Chief David Lyon both confirmed that there have been no incidents reported against Sikhs or others in retaliation of the terrorist attacks in their municipalities.
"There have been isolated incidents nationwide," Chief Lyon said. "West Windsor and Plainsboro are very diverse. I would hope that would mean there’s a greater understanding here and I think there is."
Jay said he did know of one incident in Lawrence, where an Indian immigrant working at a Shell service station on Route 1 reported being threatened by a telephone caller Sept. 12. Lawrence police are treating this as a bias incident.
"We need to be aware. Sikhs are part of American society. We are proud to be Americans, proud to be Sikhs and proud to be a part of this country," Jay said.