Global Sikh Trail: Indian author documents success stories to counter rise in hate crimes
In 2003, when 92-year-old Fauja Singh was about to run a marathon in New York, some onlookers called him "Osama bin Laden" because of his turban and beard. Despite being unwell, Singh, a Sikh by religion, proved his mettle by completing the marathon in seven hours.
Singh collapsed at the finishing line, but fought to stand up again before receiving first aid, as he did not want pictures of a collapsing Sikh in the media. "Sikh pride was at stake," he said.
Singh's story is featured in The Global Sikh Trail, an online repository that aims to promote knowledge and understanding of Sikh culture through sharing stories of struggle and resilience, and dispel the stereotype of Sikhs being "separatists and terrorists".
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The site, launched in 2017 by Indian author Khushwant Singh, is part of efforts to counter rising hate crimes against the 30-million-strong Sikh community in countries such as India, Britain and the United States.
Khushwant Singh - who previously wrote Sikhs Unlimited documenting the achievements of Sikhs in the US and Britain - says the website is an "open source" platform about the successes of contemporary Sikhs in fields including technology, the arts, medical science, politics and finance.
The September 11 attacks had marked a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment, and Sikhs, who are often confused with Muslims because of their turbans and beard, have also been forced to deal with a growing spate of hate crimes.
Sikhs in India have been called "Khalistani" separatists who want a sovereign state to be carved out of India and Pakistan. In the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of Sikhs were killed during an insurgency movement in Punjab state.
Sikhs were labelled as "anti-nationalists" and alleged to have insulted the Indian flag in protests that broke out over agricultural reforms in 2020 and 2021.
In March this year, Sikh men in Punjab were arrested in huge numbers when police launched a manhunt for a "spiritual leader", Amritpal Singh, over charges of reviving the Khalistani movement.
In the US, FBI data showed anti-Sikh hate crimes increased by 140 per cent between 2020 and 2021, from 89 incidents to 214. Britain in 2021-22 saw a 169 per cent increase in reported crimes against Sikhs from the previous year, where 112 cases were reported.
To counter the rising animosity, The Global Sikh Trail features success stories of prominent Sikhs including luxury hotelier Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi, marathon runner Fauja Singh, British director of Indian origin Gurinder Chadha, former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Scotland's celebrity chef Tony Singh.
Gurutej Singh Khalsa, whose own brushes with prejudice led to his starting the security company Akal Security, Inc, is also featured on the site. Khalsa was dismissed from his law enforcement job in New Mexico in 1979 after 18 months because he wore a turban and beard - the symbols of Sikhism.
Akal Security, which Khalsa started in 1980, went on to become a key service provider in homeland security to the US federal government.
"These incidents made me a stronger individual and a stronger Sikh and allowed me to achieve a much deeper understanding of why we keep our hair and tie turbans," said Khalsa, who is now based in Singapore.
Sydney-based Amar Singh of Turbans 4 Australia, a Sikh charity organisation, said he had witnessed hatred against the community allegedly by locals and a section of "right-wing" Hindu supporters of the Indian government in Australia.
The website would have a "positive" impact on the community's image at a time when the dynamics about religion and politics were changing globally, he added.
Khushwant Singh said that although it would take years to "heal, balm and rectify" a collective wrong done by society, one could counter hate and bias with more knowledge and understanding.
The profiles on the website are carefully selected for their achievements that inspire the community, he said, adding it was a "tough" job to choose the great from the good.
Other non-profits have also stepped up efforts to counter the rise in anti-Sikh hate crimes. US-based group The Sikh Coalition, which combats bias-motivated violence, uses its social media pages to promote a climate in which Sikh-Americans can "live with dignity", while Canada-based non-profit World Sikh Organisation debunks misinformation on Sikhs via social media and promotes the community's rights.
The Global Sikh Trail has also found an audience among non-Sikhs.
Chandigarh-based Vishwas Ahuja, a pharmaceutical supplier who visits the website regularly, said the stories helped dispel the "myths" surrounding Sikhs, who have been portrayed negatively in India.
"People think Sikhs are only into farming, but this website reveals that they are hoteliers, athletes, IT experts, and many more," Ahuja said. "Such initiatives of chronicling success stories should be taken by communities which are being ostracised."
Islamabad-based author Tahmina Aziz Ayub, known by her pen name Poonam Aziz Ayub, read about former Indian leader Manmohan Singh on the website and offered to translate it into Urdu, a language widely read in Pakistan.
Ayub said Manmohan Singh lived in undivided India's Chakwal - now part of Pakistan - till the age of 10, and the Urdu version of his story would have "many takers" in her country.
US-based Gurdeep Singh Pall, who is featured on the website, left India after he had a close shave when mobs assaulted Sikhs on a train from Kanpur to Ranchi, following the assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
Pall, now the corporate vice-president of business AI at Microsoft, said the website could inspire younger Sikhs to see themselves as "leaders" of the community and improve global perceptions of Sikhs, instead of being limited to a parochial outlook.
London-based Harsev Singh Bains, vice-president of Indian Workers' Association, the oldest Indian migrants' group in Britain, echoed the sentiment that the stories would encourage Sikhs to view themselves as global achievers instead of "separatists and terrorists".
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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