We are mistaken targets post 9/11: Sikhs

Kamaljit Atwal's neighbourhood seems like an unlikely place for a hate crime. His street in this Sacramento suburb seems a model of diversity.
   

Atwal and his family are one of two Sikh families on the block from India. On Atwal's street alone, there's a Vietnamese family, a Mexican family, a black woman and a white man.
   

But in March, Atwal's 78-year-old father Gurmej Atwal and his 67-year-old friend Surinder Singh were shot and killed while taking an afternoon stroll in the neighbourhood.
   

The men had long beards and were wearing turbans, both traditional symbols of their religion. Police are investigating whether their killing was a hate crime.
   

"It's a complete case of mistaken identity," said Rajdeep Singh, Washington, DC-based Sikh Coalition, which is the largest Sikh civil rights group in the US. "When people look at me with a turban and beard, the first thing that comes to mind is--that guy looks like Osama bin Laden."
   

Since September 11, 2001 attacks, Sikhs have reported a rise in bias attacks, both verbal and physical, against them. The backlash that hit Muslims across the country has expanded to include them and their faith as well, with some assuming the sight of a long beard and turbaned head can only mean one thing.

Kamajit Atwal said life used to be peaceful for him, his wife and their three children since moving to his quiet suburban block in 2003. Crime has gone down for four years in a row, in Elk Grove, where about 54 per cent of its 153,000 residents are non-white.

Atwal keeps a framed photo of his father on the fireplace mantel, not far from where the retired Indian civil servant once enjoyed his tea. Almost every day, Gurmej Atwal and his friend drank tea together, took a walk and met with other Sikh retirees in a nearby park.

"My gut is that it was a hate crime," said Atwal. He said that other elderly Sikhs are so afraid of being out in public since the shootings that they no longer socialise in the park.
   

Mayor Steve Detrick said he's not convinced the double shooting is a hate crime because the area has a history of
accepting others.