The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating after a Columbia University professor was attacked amid chants of “get Osama” and “terrorist.”
Dr. Prabhjot Singh, 31, was walking along West 110th street near Lenox Avenue Saturday evening with a friend when he was attacked.
“We heard ‘get Osama’ and ‘terrorist.’ I felt somebody grab my beard and hit my chin. And then minutes later I was punched a number of times,” Singh said.He had to be hospitalized, his jaw wired.
Police said more than dozen young men, ages 15 to 20, came up to Singh on bikes just north of Central Park.
And while the suspects allegedly yelled slurs at Singh relating to Osama bin Laden, he has nothing to do with terrorism. Singh, an assistant professor at Columbia University, is a Sikh. He has a long beard and wears a turban.
“My general sense was that they noticed my turban, my beard of which 99 percent of people in America are Sikhs wear,” said Singh. “We are a distinct tradition that aims for community service and being a part of the places where we live.”
According to Jasjit Singh of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, people of the Sikh faith are often discriminated against.
“The community has faced many challenges.Whether it’s hate crimes, racial profiling, school bullying or employment discrimination, especially in the aftermath of 9/11, there has been a spike in the number of challenges that the members of the Sikh American community has faced.”
