Sikh teen assaulted in New York for wearing turban in suspected hate crime attack: Police
New York (PTI): In a suspected hate crime, a 19-year-old Sikh was assaulted and injured in New York for wearing a turban while travelling in a shuttle bus, the police said.
The attack took place early on Sunday when the Sikh teen was riding a shuttle bus in Queens, a borough of New York City, CBS News channel reported.
According to the police, the suspect approached the victim, asking him to remove his turban and said, "We don't wear that in this country and take that mask off!"
The attacker then repeatedly punched the teen in his face, back, and the back of his head, causing minor cuts.
He also tried to remove the victim's turban from his head before getting off the bus and leaving the scene on foot, the report said.
Police described the suspect as "a male, 25-35 years of age, dark complexion, slim build, approximately 5'9" tall, with brown eyes and black hair," and sought the public's help to find him.
The New York Police Department hate crime unit is investigating the incident, and the police department is calling it a hate crime assault, NBC New York TV channel reported.
No arrests have been made in the case yet, The Messenger news portal reported.
The victim, who was not named, refused further medical treatment at the scene, police said in the statement sent to The Messenger.
"Right now, the victim is very traumatised," community activist Japneet Singh was quoted as saying by ABC7 television station. "The family is very scared for him," Singh added.
Though he refused treatment at the scene, Singh says the victim was injured badly enough that he won't be able to work for the next few days.
"We are in contact with the survivor and working with him to provide support as needed; he has requested anonymity for the time being. Our current understanding is that NYPD is, appropriately, investigating this incident as a hate crime," Sikh Coalition, a national organisation representing the minority community, said in a post on X.
"As we stand alongside our allies from all communities, we will continue to insist that no one should have to fear for their personal safety while simply existing in public," the post added.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
