A 53 year old Sikh man was recently beaten up in Chicago after being called a terrorist. Inderjit Singh Mukker, a resident of Chicago was on his way to a grocery store in his car when someone was following him. He stopped so that the other car would drive past but the driver got out and repeatedly punched him in the face while yelling, “Terrorist, go back to your country!”
[m9ad]
The incident is being investigated by the Illinois Police as a hate crime and we hear that the attacker is already custody. Mukker, who had been hospitalized, gave his statement to the Sikh Coalition and said that he’s thankful for the speedy response and that this should be fully investigated as a hate crime.
A member of the Sikh Coalition, Simran Jeet Singh, said that there has been increasing victimization of Sikh Americans in hate crimes ever since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He disclosed that the unique identity markers of Sikhs, the turban and the beard, are being associated with the markers of terrorism.
