Inderjit Singh Mukker, an American citizen who happens to be a follower of Sikhism, was brutally beaten by a man who called him Osama bin Laden, allegedly, of course. The alleged incident, which took place just hours before the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, has the Sikh community on high alert.
Inderjit Singh Mukker, a Sikh, has been brutally beaten by an unnamed man while driving in a suburban area in Chicago. The incident, which occurred on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11, might be investigated as a hate crime due to the anti-Muslim slurs that were used against the Sikh man.
On Tuesday night, Inderjit Singh Mukker was driving to a grocery store in Darien, Illinois when what originally appeared to be a road rage incident took place. According to Mr. Mukker, a teenage male driver cut him off several times while hurling racist insults.
Mukker, a longtime American citizen and father of two, made the terrible decision to stop his vehicle and let the other motorist pass. The teen also stopped his car, walked to Mukker and started to beat him through an open window on the driver’s side. As the aggressor was allegedly hitting Mukker, he also screamed at him:
“Go back to your country, Bin Laden!”
As a Sikh, (a religion that originated from South Asia and is practiced by over 20 Million Indians), Inderjit Singh Mukker was sporting uncut hair, which he kept covered with a turban that some may confuse with a male of Muslim faith.
The incident left the victim with an aching face, which was swollen beyond recognition. He also received a black eye and a laceration that required six stitches. Mr. Mukker told the Sikh Coalition:
“No American should be afraid to practice their faith in our country. I’m thankful for the authorities’ swift response to apprehend the individual but without this being fully investigated as a hate crime, we risk ignoring the horrific pattern of intolerance, abuse and violence that Sikhs and other minority communities in this country continue to face.”
The alleged 17-year-old attacker has been arrested and might be faced with a hate crime if Sikh Coalition Legal Director Harsimran Kaur can do anything about it. Kaur said:
“We request an immediate investigation and call on local and federal agencies to investigate this attack as a hate crime.”
Many have taken to social media to say that attacking an innocent cab driver is not the right way to remember the almost 3000 people, who perished during the September 11 attacks put together by the Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda.
