Sikh store-owner stabbed to death in US
New York, Aug 17 : A Sikh store-owner has been stabbed to death in the US state of New Jersey, in a third incident targeting the community in the country in the last three weeks.
Terlok Singh was found dead by his cousin Karnail Singh on Thursday in his East Orange suburb store with apparent stab wounds, WABC TV reported.
The assailant had put a knife in his chest, Karnail Singh told the station. Terlok Singh had a wife and children in India. He owned Park Deli and Grocery store in the US to support them.
The Essex County Prosecutor's office called the incident a homicide, reported ABC7NY. WNBC TV reported that the police did not have a motive for the killing and had made no arrest as of Thursday evening.
A worker interviewed from a nearby petrol station said he found Terlok Singh's body in a puddle of blood in the bathroom of the store.
Customers who spoke to the TV said the victim was "extremely generous". One of them, Anthony Pointdexter, said Terlok Singh was a "great guy and never bothered anybody".
Two Sikhs were attacked in separate incidents in California over the past few weeks, but they survived the assaults.
On July 31 in Keyes, Surjit Singh Malhi, 50, was attacked by two men when he was putting up a campaign sign for Republican Congressman Jeff Denham, KCRA TV said.
Malhi said they shouted at him, beat him and spray-painted his truck with a white nationalist symbol and wrote "go back to your country" on it, according to the station.
Malhi said that his turban saved him by acting like a helmet and absorbing the blows. The police were considering it a hate crime. On August 6, Sahib Singh Natt, 71, was thrown to the ground and spat on by two people in Manteca, about 40 km from Keyes.
The police arrested two teenagers and charged them with attempted robbery, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon, but not a hate crime.
One of them, Tyrone McAllister, 18, an African American, is the son of police chief Darryl McAllister of Union City.
Earlier, an Indian woman, Sasikala Narra, and her six-year-old son were stabbed to death in another New Jersey town, Maple Shade, in March 2017 but that case has not been solved.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
