Slain Sikh marine’s kin hurt by Trump remarks on Khans

Monday, 08/08/2016

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

LOS ANGELES: Voicing support for a fallen Pakistani-origin American soldier’s parents who had come under attack from US presidential candidate Donald Trump, the family of a slain Sikh marine has said it is “hurt” by his comment that amounts to playing “political games”.

Five years after enemy fighters shot marine corporal Gurpreet Singh to death in Afghanistan, his bedroom is still decorated in red, white and blue, and his uniform hangs in his closet with medals pinned to it. His father, Nirmal Singh, keeps a poster on a wall at his home in Antelope, California, calling the corporal an American hero. The family has spent much of the past week watching the immigrant parents of another fallen military service member spar with Republican presidential candidate Trump.

“It hurts. I don’t know why. It’s like they’re playing political games with a Gold Star family,” Nirmal Singh told The Sacramento Bee. Gold Star families are immediate relatives of US armed forces members who died in battle or in support of certain military activities. Many military families around the country have been surprised by Trump’s criticism of the parents of late army captain Humayun Khan after they endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and rebuked the Republican presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last month.

Trump’s tactics drew condemnation from leaders of the groups Veterans of Foreign Wars and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Gold Star Wives and the grief-counselling non-profit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) also stepped in to criticise the business tycoon. Gurpeet’s family identifies with the Khans, a Muslim family of Pakistani descent, who like them lost a son to adopted country’s long wars.

Nirmal Singh said he had often met other immigrants when he got in touch with marines. “Religion does not matter. They love their country. That’s why they go and they should be respected,” he said.

Unlike Trump, Gurpreet’s family did not question why captain Khan’s mother had stood silent at the convention next to her husband, Khizr. Corporal Gurpreet Singh’s mother, Satnam Kaur, likely would do the same. “When (Trump) said something about (capt Khan’s) mother, that insulted my mother,” the corporal’s sister, Manpreet Kaur (28), was quoted as saying.

However, the election has also turned military families against each other. “It’s like they’re trying to divide even Gold Star families. We should be united,” said Manpreet Kaur.