US Sikh bodies honour attorney general for services to community
Wednesday, 22/04/2015
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WASHINGTON: The Sikh community in America has honoured US attorney general Eric Holder for his “exemplary service” during the “challenging times”, especially after the 2012 attack on a gurdwara in Wisconsin.
Holder, 64, was presented with a siropa (a robe of honour) and Sewa Service Award by the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation (GGSF) of Rockville, Maryland, and the National Sikh Centre (NSC) of Washington at a ceremony here on Monday at the justice department. He was also presented with an honorary plaque and a book on Sikhs, a phulkari, a traditional Punjabi embroidered shawl with bright floral craft. Holder thanked the Sikh community for the honour.
“We felt that there is no one more deserving than Holder, who has contributed tremendously towards the betterment of the Sikhs in the US,” said Inder Paul Singh Gadh, chairman of the GGSF board.
“We are grateful to the attorney general for his exemplary service to the nation and for his positive role in assuring that all communities, including the Sikhs, are safe during the challenging times, especially in the aftermath of the terrible shooting at the Oak Creek Gurdwara,” said Rajwant Singh, secretary of the GGSF.
The justice department had recently started tracking hate crimes against the Sikhs. This will produce Sikh-specific data on how many hate crimes Sikhs endure, and the overall kinds of biases people of South Asian descent face.
Last year, the GGSF had honoured Brian Murphy of the Oak Creek Gurdwara who was hit by 15 bullets as he fought with a gunman who shot dead six Sikh worshippers in the Wisconsin Gurdwara in August 2012.
