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       #Post#: 1329--------------------------------------------------
        Sikh professor says he was beaten by men yelling, 'Get Osama'
       By: I-Luv-Rashi Date: September 24, 2013, 4:20 am
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       Possible hate crime: Sikh professor says he was beaten by men
       yelling, 'Get Osama'
       New York (CNN) -- A Columbia University professor who wrote
       about hate crimes against Sikhs may have become a victim of one
       himself when 12 to 15 people attacked him while shouting
       anti-Muslim slurs, police said.
       Prabhjot Singh, a Sikh and a professor of international and
       public affairs, said the attackers were yelling "get Osama" and
       "terrorist" when they swarmed him Saturday night near Central
       Park in New York.
       "There were about 20 of them. A few surrounded me, and started
       punching me," Singh said, according to the Sikh Coalition.
       Explainer: Who are Sikhs, and what do they believe?
       He suffered injuries to his face, including displaced teeth and
       a possible fracture in his lower jaw, as well as severe bruising
       and a small puncture on his elbow, the coalition said. Singh was
       treated and released from Mount Sinai hospital.
       The New York Police Department said it is investigating the
       incident as a hate crime.
       "This is a tremendous blow not just to Prabhjot and Sikh
       Americans, but to the ideals of all New Yorkers," said Amardeep
       Singh, program director of the Sikh Coalition. "What happened
       did not happen in a vacuum. Here in New York City, we regularly
       receive reports that Sikh school children are called 'Bin Laden'
       or 'terrorist' by classmates and sometimes endure physical
       violence."
       The professor co-wrote a 2012 op-ed for The New York Times,
       saying "the legacy of anti-Sikh violence and its contemporary
       prevalence make it painfully obvious that anti-Sikh violence is
       often purposeful and targeted." He called for the government to
       start tracking hate violence against Sikhs specifically, instead
       of categorizing such instances as anti-Islamic hate crimes like
       the FBI generally does.
       The United States is home to about 700,000 Sikhs, nearly all of
       Indian origin. The men often wear beards and turbans, a
       tradition that's lasted for 500 years.
       But the attire and appearance have also meant that they are
       often mistaken for Muslims, and Sikhs have become targets of
       anti-Islam attacks.
       Since 9/11, the Sikh Coalition reported more than 700 attacks or
       bias-related incidents against Sikhs, including the fatal
       shooting of six people at a Sikh temple last year outside
       Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
       The coalition also cited beatings of Sikhs across the country
       after the victims were taunted about their turbans or subjected
       to racial slurs.
       Sikhism, the world's fifth most popular religion, is a
       monotheistic faith that believes in equality and service to
       others, Sikh officials say.
       NYC beating death being investigated as possible hate crime
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