{"id":24837,"date":"2013-09-23T13:54:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harlemcondolife.com\/?p=24837"},"modified":"2013-09-23T14:49:57","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T18:49:57","slug":"brutal-attack-columbia-university-professor-apparent-hate-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harlemcondolife.com\/?p=24837","title":{"rendered":"A brutal attack on a Columbia University Professor and resident of Harlem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"enhanced-buzz-19063-1379906922-6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was very upset to hear the news about this hate crime that happened last weekend. \u00a0A hateful mob attacked a Sikh man who says he was mistaken for a radical Muslim. \u00a0This is unacceptable. \u00a0 Teachers and parents must educate their kids on the religious differences in our community and the diversity in the world. \u00a0As the Daily News, DNAinfo and BuzzFeed have reported, a Sikh-American Columbia University Professor was beaten in a hate crime this past Saturday while the suspects yelled “Osama”.\u00a0 Any citizen should have the freedom to dress as they wish and be accepted for it. \u00a0Especially if it has to do with their religious \u00a0beliefs. \u00a0This is America, \u00a0Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. \u00a0 Yes, Osama Bin Ladin was a bad guy, a terrorist and he did horrible things and was punshed and killed. \u00a0 This has nothing to do with an innocent American, doctor and professor who is part of our community and an educator at one of the top Unniversities in the country. \u00a0This is the sort of story you may expect to read from a back woods unnecducated small town in the midwest or unfortunately small areas down south where racism, predudice and ignorance still exists. \u00a0 But not in a comopolitan, multi racial, well educated and worldly city such as new york. \u00a0 We are smarter than this. \u00a0Come on people! \u00a0It is the parents and teachers and communities \u00a0responsibility to educate our children. \u00a0This should not have happened and it should never happen again. \u00a0The gentleman who was attacked, Dr. Prabhjot Singh was quoted in BuzzFeed as saying “This is my community, I live in Harlem, I see patients here,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not the side of Harlem I\u2019ve come to know and not how I\u2019ve been embraced.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the Daily News they report that “Columbia University professor Prabhjot Singh has written about violence toward Sikhs in America \u2014 and on Saturday was the target of a vicious assault just blocks from his Harlem home.”<\/p>\n

\"hate23n-3-web\"<\/a>
photo by Lombard, Mariela, Freelance (Daily News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The attack is under investigation by the Hate Crimes Task Force says the New York Police Department. \u00a0BuzzFeed writes: Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a Columbia University professor, had just dropped his wife and his 1-year-old son off at home on Saturday night when he went for a short walk with his friend to the north of Central Park in Harlem, he explains. They were walking past a group of 25 to 30 young men, many of whom had bikes, when he heard, \u201cGet him!\u201d as well as \u201cOsama\u201d and \u201cterrorist\u201d being yelled. \u00a0This is when the Professor was knocked to the ground and punched repeatedly in the face and head which left him with an injured \u00a0jaw, a lacerated lip and badly bruised until\u00a0bystanders finally came to his aid.<\/p>\n

The criminals in this beating need to be found and prosecuted.<\/p>\n

* * *
\nWhat is Sikh? Sikhism<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>
\n(Wikipedia)<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Philosophy: \u00a0<\/span>Main articles:\u00a0Sikhism<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sikh gurus<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Sikhism considers spiritual life and secular life to be intertwined:[34]<\/a><\/sup>[35]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0“In the Sikh Weltanschauung…the temporal world is part of the Infinite Reality and partakes of its characteristics.”[36]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Guru Nanak described living an “active, creative, and practical life” of “truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity” as being higher than a purely contemplative life.[37]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The 6th Sikh Guru\u00a0Guru Hargobind<\/a>\u00a0re-affirmed that the political\/temporal (Miri) and spiritual (Piri) realms are mutually coexistent.[38]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0According to the 9th Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadhur, the ideal Sikh should have both\u00a0Shakti<\/a>\u00a0(power that resides in the temporal), and\u00a0Bhakti<\/a>\u00a0(spiritual meditative qualities). This was developed into the concept of the Saint Soldier by the 10th Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh.[39]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Protecting the religious and political rights of all people and preventing discrimination is an integral part of the Sikh faith. The 5th\u00a0Guru Arjan<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0martyred<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0Mughal<\/a>\u00a0ruler\u00a0Jahangir<\/a>\u00a0on 16 May 1606 for refusing to convert to Islam. The\u00a0martyrdom<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Guru Teg Bahadur<\/a>\u00a09th Guru<\/a>\u00a0to protect\u00a0Hindus<\/a>\u00a0from religious persecution, in\u00a0Delhi<\/a>, on 11 November 1675 AD, is another example of upholding minority religious freedom; he gave his life to protect the right of Kashmiri Hindus to practise their own religion when they were being forced to convert to Islam by\u00a0Aurangzeb<\/a>, the Mughal emperor at the time.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Guru Nanak<\/a>, the goal is to attain the “attendant balance of separation-fusion, self-other, action-inaction, attachment-detachment, in the course of daily life”,[40]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0the polar opposite to a self-centered existence.[40]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Nanak talks further about the\u00a0one God<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Akal<\/a>\u00a0(timelessness) that permeates all life[41]<\/a><\/sup>).[42]<\/a><\/sup>[43]<\/a><\/sup>[44]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and which must be seen with ‘the inward eye’, or the ‘heart’, of a human being.[45]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Sikhism<\/a>\u00a0there is no\u00a0dogma<\/a>,[46]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0priests<\/a>,\u00a0monastics<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0yogis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Guru Nanak<\/a>\u00a0was the founder of\u00a0Sikhism<\/a>. Guru Nanak summarised the basis of Sikh lifestyle as:\u00a0Kirat Karo<\/a><\/i>,\u00a0Naam Japo<\/a><\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Wand kay Chako<\/a><\/i>, which means work diligently and honestly, meditate on the holy name (Waheguru<\/a>), and share the fruits of labours with others. The idea that human beings must work for a living and play an active role in society is the basis of this philosophy. The guiding principles of the Sikh faith are Truth, Equality, Freedom and Justice.<\/p>\n

The Sikhs revere\u00a0Guru Granth Sahib<\/a>\u00a0as their supreme teacher, ‘Guru’ means the enlightener.\u00a0The tenth Guru<\/a>\u00a0ended the line of personal Gur\u016bs and transferred his authority to the dual agency of the Sikh scripture\u00a0Gur\u016b Gra\u1e45th S\u0101hib<\/i>\u00a0and to the Guru\u00a0Khalsa<\/a>\u00a0(also Panth). The\u00a0Panth<\/i>\u00a0or the community of followers was to be the physical manifestation of the Gur\u016b, while the Guru\u00a0Gra\u1e45th<\/i>\u00a0was to be the scriptural guide for this body of Sikhs.[47]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
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Gurudwara<\/a>\u00a0Bangla Sahib<\/a>, Delhi, India. Volunteers prepare\u00a0roti<\/a>\u00a0bread for the worshippers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sikhism is an extremely pluralistic religion. The\u00a0Guru Granth Sahib<\/a>, in addition to the revelations of the Sikh gurus, contains revelations of various saints and sages of that period. The\u00a0Mul Mantar<\/a>, the opening\u00a0hymn<\/a>\u00a0of the holy\u00a0Guru Granth Sahib<\/a>, expounds the nature and attributes of God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c<\/td>\nThere is one supreme eternal reality; the truth; immanent in all things; creator of all things; imminent in creation. Without fear and without hatred; not subject to time; beyond birth and death; self-revealing. Known by the Guru\u2019s grace.[48]<\/a><\/sup><\/td>\n\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Photo at the top of this post from BuzzFeed Via blogs.ei.columbia.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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