Gurinder Singh Khalsa blasts ignorant Trump.
Donald Trump’s campaign landed in another controversy after misidentifying a Sikh man as a Muslim supporter of the Republican candidate. Gurinder Singh Khalsa, a resident of Fishers City in Indiana, was featured in the flyers distributed by the campaign in Ohio.
The flyers were made to exhibit the diversity of support received by Trump. But, the photo of Khalsa was used without his permission.
“Shocking and disturbing to know Trump campaign showing my picture as Muslims Support Trump on his Campaign flyers. I don’t support Trump and I am not Muslim. We are Sikhs,” said Khalsa on a Facebook post.
“We are not against Muslims but since 9/11 we have been the most targeted community for sectarian violence and hate crime in the US. This Trump Campaign flyer has created more confusion of distinct and unique identity of Sikhs,” he added.
Khalsa is the founder of the Sikh Political Action Committee, a non-partisan group which aims to educate American society about the Sikh religion.
Sikhs have been misidentified as Muslims and have been attacked several times by radical groups in the US.
“This is the very reason #SikhsPACcame into existence to make Americans aware of Sikhs. Sikhs are in America for over 100 years. Sikh faith originated from India over 500 years ago,” Khalsa said.
A study in 2015 found that majority of the US citizens did not have basic knowledge about the Sikh community. According to the study, only 11 percent of the US people identified a photo of a Sikh man by his correct faith.
While one-third of the population believed that the man was a Middle-Eastern, one fifth of the respondents thought he was a Muslim. A study conducted at Stamford University in 2013 had also shown that people have confusion about the difference between Sikhism and Islam.
According to Khalsa, the Sikhs have to work hard to educate the public about the community.
“Now we have to work hard to get national level politicians and the presidential candidate, he does not know the difference between Muslims and Sikhs and that is most disturbing,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.