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The Sikh Coalition condemns response to campus protests in US
The statement condemns the response to protests on college campuses across the US.
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The Sikh Coalition, a non-profit organization engaged in work against transnational repression in order to protect the civil rights and lives of U.S.-based Sikhs, issued a statement condemning the ‘draconian response’ to protests on college campuses across the US.
“As a civil rights organization, we fundamentally believe in the rights of all people to demonstrate peacefully for their political beliefs, and students are no exception. This belief in the right of peaceful protest coexists with our fervent opposition to any calls for violence or genocide against any people; our community has experienced such horrors first hand, and to wish it upon any other is unconscionable,” the organization said in a press release.
Referring to the forced removal of a woman’s hijab at Arizona State University and delayed response of police officers during the unrest at the University of California, Los Angeles, the statement emphasized, “We are particularly alarmed by the discrepancy between increased instances of police brutality (including the alleged forced removal of articles of faith, as well as many other examples) against protestors and apparent police inaction at the University of California Los Angeles when counterprotestors violently assaulted a student encampment Tuesday night.”
It has been observed on numerous occasions that prioritizing certain political viewpoints for protection while considering others for criminalization presents an untenable dilemma for a society founded on the principles of freedom of speech and assembly, the statement added.
“Finally, we strongly oppose any rhetoric that incites violence against student protestors, particularly on the basis of assumed or actual racial, ethnic, or religious identity. The Sikh community knows all too well the profound danger that comes with being described as “extremists” or “terrorists,” and no one—least of all young people—should be put at such risk.”
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