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A feast of traditional Indian food and a chance to learn about the history of the Sikh religion were provided Tuesday night inside Armstrong Hall.

Rano Singh, former President of the India Association of Phoenix, held a lecture to educate people about Sikhism and provide community support for the discrimination inflicted upon Sikhs since Sept. 11.

Inspired by the deaths of Sikhs nationally, the Sikh community has made it a priority to send their message out to the country.

"We should not be afraid to live in a multicultural, multiracial society, and the way we can do this is through education, open conversations, and coming close together to understand each other," Singh said.

The Sikhs are achieving their goals through documentaries, brochures, lectures, and work with the youth, said Singh.

"Schools and colleges are the educational pillars of societies," said audience member Jaswant S. Sachdev, a Sikh neurologist in Phoenix.

"We must teach kids what is hate and what is living in diversity," he added.

According to Singh, three Sikh taxi drivers in California were murdered in the past three months, without the occurrence of robbery. And after Sept. 11, there have been 295 reports of verbal assault, racial profiling, and other incidences of discrimination, she said.

"Hate crimes and hate speech towards Sikh individuals drastically increased after 9/11, and then they started to decline," Singh said.

"But since the war in Iraq, they have been steadily rising once again," she added.

An organization called the Sikh Media and Resource Task Force is also working to stop the hate. They have created and distributed a plethora of literature, while also correcting Sikh misrepresentations in the media, said Singh.

According to the lecture, Sikhism is an approximately 500-year-old religion with passive people who mainly strive for their three goals of "working hard in an honest matter," "sharing with the needy" and "meditating on [God]".

In India 90 percent of the Sikh culture lives off of the land and prospers. One rarely sees a Sikh in India begging for money on the streets, said Singh. The woman wear the traditional Sari, while the men where a turban covering a head of hair that has never been cut.

According to Sachdev, there are between 5,000 and 7,000 Sikhs residing in Arizona and as many as 20 million Sikhs worldwide. However, it is still a small religion, as only 2 percent of India is Sikh.

"We believe all humans are equal and cannot be ranked based upon heritage, money, or anything else, and being productive is a virtue, as God is deeply entrusted in the affairs of man," Singh said.

"When all other peaceful means have failed, we believe it's righteous to take up the sword," she added.

Thousands of Sikhs gave their lives for Britain and France during World War I, but were still banned from immigrating to Canada just after the war.

Today, Sikhs experience a different kind of discrimination. They are feeling the wrath of the hatred for a culture completely separate for their own.

"Since 9/11 Sikhs have felt very unsafe to walk around in their Turbans, and wives worry every day about their husbands making it home OK," Singh said.

According to Singh, Sikh men and a few women wear Turbans to wrap up their long hair, which must never be cut. The practice originated in 1699 when Guro Gobind Singh created a universal order of saint-soldiers who would lay down their lives in the fight against oppression and injustice.

Because the turban was a symbol of nobility, status, and power for centuries in India, the Guru wanted his Sikhs to be equal to the princes of the land. Thus, Guro Singh had his gentlemen wear the turban, along with four other items, including long breeches for modesty, a small comb for cleanliness of hair, small dagger for protection, and a steel bangle on the right wrist symbolizing equality, unity, and strength.

Sikhs continue to adorn themselves in the traditional fashion despite the discrimination and potential dangers in doing so, Singh said.

"The Sikhs have always been content to live within their own communities, but we have to become main stream and reach out," Singh said.

"We have to educate people and get rid of this fear and hatred out there," she added.

Katie McDevitt is a reporter for the Web Devil. Reach her at kathleen.mcdevitt@asu.edu.


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