DAILY ROUNDUP
By American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: It’s a story that has been repeated often: the trauma of the traditional Sikhs living in the US, who often have to endure embarrassment and humiliation because of following their religious principles.
In yet another example of discrimination against Sikhs, a Sikh couple was asked to leave an AMC movie theater in Emeryville, California after workers there say they noticed that the man was carrying a small ‘knife,’ or kirpan for Sikhs. Manjot Singh and his wife had gone to the theater to watch ‘Man of Steel.’
In a statement, AMC Theaters say: “Our ‘no weapons’ policy prohibits guests from carrying weapons of any kind into our theaters. This national policy is for the safety and security of our guests and staff.”
Singh has decided to sue the theater, and hired an attorney, after he says that he had to endure 10 minutes of humiliation in the theater lobby before being asked to leave.
Manmeet Singh of the United Sikhs, a Sikh advocacy group, said in a statement: “What happened to this couple at the AMC Theater in Emeryville – singling them out because of Manjot’s appearance – was inexcusable, and we want to make sure that this never happens again to another Sikh patron of the AMC chain.”
SIX LIL CHEFS AT THE WHITE HOUSE: Indian food have been served before in the White House, but when a horde of six chefs of Indian origin get together at the White House, it sure does raise some eyebrows, and more so when all the chefs are kids.
The six lil chefs – Anisha Patel from Ohio, Ganesh Selvakumar from Pennsylvania; Devanshi H Udeshi from Texas; Emma Scielzo from Maryland; Vijay Dey from North Carolina and Shefali Singh from Massachusetts were among 54 children from around the country invited by First Lady Michelle Obama for the inaugural ‘Kids State Dinner,’ which also saw a surprise appearance by President Barack Obama.
“Now, first of all, usually at a state dinner, I get invited. So I don’t know what happened on this one — somehow the invitation slipped through somewhere. But it looks like you guys are having fun,” the President quipped when he made his appearance, and mingled with the chefs at the event which was to raise awareness against obesity and to eat food which is nutritious and healthy.
A star cook at the event was Indian American Emma Scielzo, 10, whose winning recipe of “Chicken Masala Wrap” was chosen for a video shoot.