In response to the growing racial crimes against Sikhs in the US, the community in California has raised $400,000 at a fund-raising event for media campaigns to spread awareness about the contribution of the community to the US and their right to uphold religious practices.
Advertisements created by the National Sikh Campaign (NSC) in collaboration with AKPD, which had arranged the campaigns for US President Barack Obama, and Hart Research Associate that is headed by Hilary Clinton's former strategic adviser, were launched at the fund-raising event this week in San Francisco, California, according to Press Trust of India.
"This is a historic moment in the history of the Sikh community in America. Never before have we had the opportunity to tell our story to our fellow Americans around the country and that time has come now," Kaval Kaur, national charter member of the NSC was quoted as saying by PTI.
"We, Sikhs, need to change the narrative and present the correct image of who we are, showcasing how we are totally integrated in the American society and not only as victims," Rajwant Singh, co-founder of NSC, said.
Earlier this month, the Sikh coalition in the US launched an online tool that would facilitate the registration of complaints of the racial crimes against Sikhs.
Earlier this year, a Sikh man was stabbed to death in California, while an elderly Sikh man was assaulted in the same area in December. In September 2015, a Sikh man, mistaken for a Muslim, was beaten up by a teenager in Illinois. In 2012, in a mass shooting at a Gurudwara, had lead to multiple deaths in the country.
