Sikh Organizations Work Together on Phoenix Shooting

May 20, 2003: On Tuesday evening, representatives from different Sikh organizations met on a phone conference to discuss a coordinated response around the hate-related shooting of Avtar Singh Cheira, a 52 year old Indian immigrant who resides in Phoenix, Arizona. On Monday evening, while waiting for his family to pick him up from work, Cheira, who wears a turban and beard in keeping with the tenants of the Sikh faith, was approached by at least two young white men in a car who shouted racial slurs. Then men shot Cheira and drove off.

To date, the suspects have not been caught. Cheira is expected to fully recover from the incident.

Representatives from Sikh Coalition, Sikh Communications Council, Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART) and SikhNet met to share information and develop complimentary strategies around the shooting.

In the hours immediately following the crime, the Sikh community of Phoenix worked closely with Cheira and his family, giving them comfort and support during this tragedy. Local Phoenix Sikh spokeswoman and Director of Sikh Affairs for SikhNet Guru Roop Kaur Khalsa has been assisting Avtar Singh and his family in their interaction with local and federal police officials and with the media.

Khalsa, along with Sikh Coalition and SMART, contacted local and national government agencies, to begin the process of having the crime declared a hate crime.

Sikh Communications Council worked to develop public and media responses.

Sikh Council on Religion and Education, though not available for the conference call, contacted the White House and national Interfaith groups, asking for their support.

During the conference call, the Sikh organizations agreed that supporting Cheira’s family and securing the safety of the Phoenix Sikh community and the larger Sikh community are the most immediate needs at this time.

To this effect, the organizations issued Community Advisories, giving tips on taking appropriate security precautions and supporting community members, especially children, who may feel especially vulnerable and threatened in the face of such an incident.

The organizations also agreed that it was time to create long-term plans for continually educating the general public about who Sikhs are and all the valuable contributions that Sikhs make to society. Phoenix was also the site of the first post September 11th hate crime, when Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot and killed outside of his gas station in Mesa, Arizona on September 15, 2001. In the face of current events, bias and hate crimes will most likely continue to be an on-going problem for the Sikh community. It is time, the organizations said, to become eternally vigilant in the face of this and take proactive measures.