Sikhs promote better cultural understanding

Gurbax Sekhon was walking to his car outside the Waisman Center in early October when he was approached by a group of four teen-age boys.

“Which country are you going to bomb next?” he recalls them asking.

Sekhon, a professor of genetics, pediatrics and oncology at UW–Madison Medical School, was born in the Punjab region of India and is a devout Sikh. Every day, he wears a peaked turban and long beard.

“I said, “If you can correctly tell me which country I come from, I’ll give you each a dollar,'” he says with a laugh.

Tension defused, the group wandered away. But the memory has lingered for Sekhon, as well as other UW–Madison Sikhs, who have grown increasingly wary in the days since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Sikhs are members of the world’s fifth-largest religion, which traces its roots to northern India and espouses truth and egalitarianism. More than 500,000 Sikhs are in the U.S., with an estimated 400 in the Madison area. Sekhon says Sikh men wear the turban as a crown of spirituality and never cut their beards as a pledge of dedication and respect for God’s creation.

Although members of the faith have always shrugged off the occasional insensitive remark or insult, now is an especially uncomfortable time to stand out so conspicuously, says Jaspalinder Singh Chahal, president of Sikh Society of Wisconsin–Madison and a payroll and benefit specialist in UW–Madison business services.

Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden is frequently shown wearing a white cloth turban wrapped in a circular, spiraling fashion. Some people don’t make the distinction that bin Laden comes from a completely different culture, religion and nationality, he says. In fact, head wraps are part of male dress in many cultures, especially in Asia and Africa.

Founded in the late 1400s, Sikhism helped India transcend castes, sectarianism, religious factions and fanaticism. A founding principal of the faith is that there are many paths to one God and that all religions must be respected.

“Obviously, most people who wear turbans are not terrorists,” says Chahal, who has been in the U.S. since 1992. “We must look beyond the superficial appearances of people to determine our true enemies and friends.”

“Asians, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims should be free from these (stereotypes),” agreed Sekhon, who has been in the U.S. for 40 years. “That’s what terrorists want. They’re trying to divide us.”

No violence against Sikhs has been reported in Madison. But in the days after the attacks, a Sikh gas station owner was killed in Mesa, Ariz., and a Sikh motel owner was badly beaten in Seattle.

Locally, Chahal says many members of the local Sikh community stayed indoors immediately after the attacks out of fear of harassment. Although his co-workers have been supportive, some have urged him to shave his beard and avoid wearing his turban out of concern for his safety.

“It’s part of my identity,” he says. “If I was to stop wearing a turban, what was the point of coming to a country that loves freedom?”

Sekhon says he’s grown immune to insults after hearing “Ayatollah” comments — references to the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran — back in the early 1980s.

Instead, he’s concerned that the current climate in the U.S. will hurt Asian children, lead to job discrimination or more racial profiling. Already, Sikhs wearing turbans have faced unusually tight screening in airport security checks.

Although the UW–Madison community has been welcoming and supportive since the Sept. 11 attacks, Sekhon says that he hopes that members of all races and ethnicities have the moral courage to step in if they see harassment occurring.

Chancellor John Wiley has also urged students, faculty and staff to report any incidents of harassment, threats or violence.

If the incident occurred on campus, it should be reported to UW Police, 262-2957; if it takes place off-campus, call the Madison Police Department, 266-4275. Students also may call the Dean of Students Office, 263-5702, for assistance.