Hateful mob attacks Sikh who says he was mistaken for a radical Muslim

September 26, 2013 in News by The Manimal

Source: NY Daily News

Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. ‘It’s incredibly sad,’ Prabhjot Singh says. ‘It’s not the neighborhood I know. I work in this community. It’s just not American.’
By AND / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Prabhjot Singh, Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

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Prabhjot Singh, an assistant professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, underwent surgery on his jaw after he was attacked Saturday night by 25 to 30 young men who called him a terrorist.

A professor at Columbia University who is Sikh was attacked Saturday night in upper Manhattan by a mob who called him “Osama” and “terrorist,” police said Sunday.

Prabhjot Singh, 31, who has written articles about violence toward Sikhs in America, was the target of the vicious assault just blocks from his Harlem home.

Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

“There was a group of 25 to 30 young men. One of them said, ‘Get him, Osama,’” Singh, who suffered a fractured jaw, told the Daily News on Sunday night. “I got punched directly in the face about three times.”

'I got punched directly in the face about three times,' says Prabhjot Singh, shown Sunday after he was beaten up by a group of young men near Central Park.

KEN MURRAY/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

‘I got punched directly in the face about three times,’ says Prabhjot Singh, shown Sunday after he was beaten up by a group of young men near Central Park.

Singh, who has a beard and wears a turban, said he was on the ground being kicked when passersby intervened, saving him.

“I’m grateful to them,” said Singh, who is married and has a young son. “It could have been a lot worse.”

The attack happened about 8:15 p.m. Saturday as Singh and a friend were walking along 110th St. and Lenox Ave.

The badly injured professor was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he underwent surgery on his jaw.

Columbia University professor Prabhjot Singh has written about violence toward Sikhs in America — and on Saturday was the target of a vicious assault just blocks from his Harlem home.

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Columbia University professor Prabhjot Singh has written about violence toward Sikhs in America — and on Saturday was the target of a vicious assault just blocks from his Harlem home.

Singh serves as an associate professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia.

“It’s incredibly sad,” Singh said. “It’s not the neighborhood I know. I work in this community. It’s just not American.”

“It’s important that they are caught and be held responsible for what they did,” Singh said.

But he added it was more crucial for people to understand that Sikhs are peaceful and should not be confused with radical Islamics.

“I’ve written about this in the past,” Singh said. “But it’s one thing to go from writing about something to receiving an assault. It’s scary.”