:dateline:Amidst rising hate crime incidents against Sikhs in the USA, the state assembly of Delaware, a�state south of New Jersey, has resolved to mark the month of April as ‘Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month’.�A resolution regarding this was unanimously passed by the Senate as well as Representative House of Delaware state assembly.
“Delaware stands with the Sikh community in denouncing hate crimes directed towards any individual on account of their religious beliefs”, reads the resolution announced by senator Brown Townsend in the state assembly.
�Since September 11, 2001, the Sikhs are often mistaken for Taliban or followers of Al Qaida, owing to the commonality of their beards and turbans, and subjected to a disproportionately high rate of hate crimes, and Sikh boys suffer bullying at least twice the national bullying rate for other boys�, it said.
The move was welcomed by the State Governor, John Carney, who in a meeting with the Sikh community assured all kind of help to the community, which he said of late has been experiencing a spate of hate crimes in the US. He further said that such kind of racial attacks were totally unacceptable.
�We have fear mongering going on at a national level, and stereotyping… and all of that. It is an embarrassment for America as a country,� Carney told a delegation of Indian-Americans led by local businessman and community leader Charanjeet Singh Minhas.
Meanwhile, Charanjit Singh has welcomed the Delaware’s move�in taking a lead in displaying it’s solidarity with the Sikh community, despite having only a small Sikh population, compared to the other states like California, New York and New Jersey.
