HAMILTON, New Zealand—A Sikh candidate, Yugraj Singh Mahil, who is running for a place in the City Council of Hamilton, had a billboard displaying his photo sprayed with ‘ISIS’. The billboard also displayed a photo of another candidate, Anna-Casey Cox, who is also running for the first time, like Sikh candidate Yuvraj Singh.
Speaking with Sikh24, Yugraj Singh Mahil said that the graffiti on billboards usually involved changing the appearance of candidates but the plastering of ‘ISIS’ on him was more than an insult. He said that the defaced billboard was in the suburb of Hillcrest. He said that the act may have been by teenagers or kids as they often mistake Sikhs as Muslims, due to appearance.
The other candidate, Anna-Casey Cox, said that she was informed about the defaced billboard via Facebook. ‘Fortunately, we were able to take down the Billboard within 20 minutes’ she added.
‘This was a different kind of daubing of a Billboard and it was just at a whole different level. And I think it’s just somebody who’s not even thinking. It’s just someone who is relatively ignorant that has done this’ she argued.
