Sikh children in US schools targets of hate

March 18, 2014

Sikh_children_in_USWashington, Mar 18: More than half of Sikh children in US schools endure bullying with over two-thirds of turbaned Sikh children among its worst victims, according to a new national report. Sikh children have been punched kicked, and had their turbans ripped off by fellow students, it found.

Focused on Seattle, Indianapolis, Boston, and Fresno, California metropolitan Areas, the report, entitled "Go Home Terrorist," - A Report on Bullying Against Sikh American School Children," was released last week on Capitol Hill, seat of US Congress.

The bullying of Sikh children is often associated with post-9/11 bias, the report found with epithets such as "terrorist" or "Bin Laden" frequently accompanying verbal and physical abuse.

According to the National Centre for Education Statistics, 32 percent of all students ages 12 to 18 report that they are bullied in school.

Turbaned Sikh children therefore likely experience bullying at more than double the national rate, the report said.

Consistently Sikh children have called on educators and administrators to teach more about Sikhs and the Sikh religion in order to build understanding in school, it noted.

The report cites lack of federal data on the bullying of Sikh school children as a systematic concern that should be addressed in order to better diagnose and target efforts to solve the issue.

In addition, the absence of or negative representation of Sikhs in school textbooks nationwide was cited by the report as an opportunity to better combat or mitigate school bullying.

The report is based on surveys and focus groups of over 700 Sikh school children and interviews of over 50 Sikh students in four metropolitan areas: Seattle, Indianapolis, Boston, and Fresno, California during 2012 and 2013.

Mike Honda, Democratic chair of the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus joined the American Sikh Congressional Caucus, and The Sikh Coalition, an umbrella community organisation at the release event.

"The Sikh Coalition's study and report reinforces the need for research, attention, and education to address bullying," Honda said.

"It would not be an exaggeration to call school bullying, particularly as it applies to turbaned Sikh youth, 'widespread,'" said Amardeep Singh, Director of Programmes at the Sikh Coalition.

"We have a long-term, institutional commitment to ensuring our children reach their full human potential," said Sapreet Kaur, executive director of the Sikh Coalition.

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Agencies
July 24,2020

Chengdu, Jul 24: China on Friday asked the US to close down its Consulate in Chengdu in retaliation to Washington's decision to shut the Chinese Consulate in Houston.

A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China has informed the US Embassy of its decision to withdraw its consent for the establishment and operation of the US Consulate General in Chengdu.

This was in response to "unilateral" decision by the US to shut the Houston Consulate. China's decision is legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the US, it said.

The US on Wednesday ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, a move it said was aimed "to protect American intellectual property and private information."

Reacting strongly to the US move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin termed it as an "unprecedented escalation and warned retaliatory measures.

China on Thursday said that "malicious slander" is behind an order by the US government to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, and maintained that its officials have never operated outside ordinary diplomatic norms.

Wang said the order to close the consulate violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, and seriously undermines China-US relations.

This is breaking down the bridge of friendship between the Chinese and American people, Wang said.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Mexico City, Jun 13: The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Mexico, has risen by 544 to 16,448 within the past 24 hours, Jose Luis Alomia, the director of epidemiology at the Health Ministry, said.

He also said on late Friday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had increased by 5,222 to 139,196 within the same period of time.

A day earlier, the Latin American nation has recorded 4,790 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with 587 fatalities.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 7.6 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 425,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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News Network
May 22,2020

May 22: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight on its way from Lahore to Karachi, crashed in the area near Jinnah International Airport on Friday, according to Civil Aviation Authority officials.

Geo News reported that the plane crashed at the Jinnah Ground area near the airport as it was approaching for landing. There were more than 90 passengers on board the Airbus aircraft. Black smoke could be seen from afar at the crash site, say eye witnesses.

There were no immediate reports on the number of casualties. The aircraft arriving from the eastern city of Lahore was carrying 99 passengers and 8 crew members, news agency AP said, quoting Abdul Sattar Kokhar, spokesman for the country’s civil aviation authority.

Witnesses said the Airbus A320 appeared to attempt to land two or three times before crashing in a residential area near Jinnah International Airport.

Flight PK-303 from Lahore was about to land in Karachi when it crashed at the Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir, just a minute before its landing, Geo News reported.

Local television reports showed smoke coming from the direction of the airport. Ambulances were on their way to the airport.

News agency said Sindh’s Ministry of Health and Population Welfare has declared emergency in all major hospitals of Karachi due to the plane crash.

It’s the second plane crash for Pakistani carrier in less than four years. The airline’s chairman resigned in late 2016, less than a week after the crash of an ATR-42 aircraft killed 47 people. The incident comes as Pakistan was slowly resuming domestic flights in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reported.

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