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Student suffers hate, chancellor apologises
WSN Network
 NEW
YORK: Setting an example and signifying how seriously the western
society takes the issue of religious freedom and equal rights,
Chancellor Joel Klein has personally apologized last Friday to the
Sikh student who was punched in the face with a set of keys by a
teen trying to rip off his turban but with Sikh students in New York
schools continuously at the receiving end, the department will have
to do much more to convince the community.
Following a
rally calling for more protection for Sikh students, Klein met
privately with Jagmohan Singh Premi, 18, who was assaulted the
Tuesday before that at
Richmond Hill
High School in Queens.
"I let him know
that he can reach me directly if he needed to speak to me," Klein
said afterward.
Premi suffered
an orbital fracture and bruising during the incident, which led to
the arrest of his 15-year-old attacker.
 "'I'm
afraid to go to school,'" witnesses said Premi told Klein at
Education Department headquarters where the rally was held. Klein
said his agency will distribute anti-bias brochures and is working
to expand the system for tracking bias incidents.
Advocates
however were not satisfied with Klein's response, noting that
education officials made promises after a student cut off a Sikh
student's waist-length hair last year. His attacker received only
community service during sentencing this week.
On
June 4, 2008,
Jagmohan Singh Premi was punched in the face after a student
intentionally attempted to remove his patka. But what was
significant was that it was not just a one-off incident. Premi's
tormentor had a long and documented history of harassing him in
school, making fun of his patka and beard, and attempting to pull
off his patka.
Jagmohan, a
student at
Richmond Hill
High School in Queens, New York, was sitting in class when a student
partially untied his patka. With his patka untied --- and with his
teacher in the classroom --- Jagmohan tried to quickly secure it.
At that moment Jagmohan's tormentor punched him in the face with a
key between his knuckles.
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Sikh
children continue to suffer in New York City.
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In May
2007 a Sikh boy's hair was forcibly cut by another student in
a hate crime.
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This past
April, a report found that more than 60% of the Sikh students
surveyed suffered bias-based harassment or violence in city
schools.
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Richmond
Hill High School was seen as a "problem school" for Sikh
children in that report.
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Doctors stated
that Jagmohan has a facial contusion as a result of the attack. In
addition he has a possible orbital fracture. He will have a
follow-up appointment in the coming days.
Jagmohan's
tormentor has a long history of harassing him at school. He pulled
on Jagmohan's beard in class and squeezed his joorha (hair top
knot). He continually made fun of Jagmohan's patka and joorha,
asking Jagmohan if he ever washed his hair and demanding that
Jagmohan remove his patka and show him his hair.
Jagmohan
reported this harassment to teachers, but the tormentor was not
stopped by teachers or administrators at
Richmond Hill
High School. Though the tormentor had been suspended earlier this
year specifically because he tried to remove Jagmohan's patka, he
continued to harass Jagmohan during their shared classes. That
harassment culminated in Tuesday's violence.
Sikh community
representatives later met the students, accompanied Jagmohan Singh's
father for a meeting with school officials at
Richmond Hill
High School and had an extended discussion with the Administrative
Dean and Security Coordinator at Richmond Hill High School. Later,
they initiated contact with the New York City Schools Chancellor's
office which initiated an investigation into the matter.
Activists claim
that half the Sikh students at
Richmond Hill
High School have been harassed and that school officials have done
little or nothing about it. The chancellor admitted the department
needs to be more thorough in tracking bias incidents in the New York
City school system. And he says they will be. But critics say they
need to do more than just teach tolerance. They say students must
learn more about the Sikh religion so that they can better
understand their fellow students.
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The
following is the full text of Klein's statement:
"I have
spoken with the student and his father and assured them that
this incident will be investigated and that I am committed to
providing him a safe learning environment. I won't tolerate any
harassment based on race, religion, or gender in our schools.
Because addressing and preventing bias crimes in school is a
priority, I recently ordered the drafting of a new Chancellor's
regulation that incorporates recommendations from the Sikh
Coalition. Additionally, we will distribute an anti-bias
brochure to every middle and high school student in the City
that defines harassment, advises students of their rights, and
outlines appropriate actions in response to acts of harassment.
As part of this effort, we are also expanding our incident
reporting system to comprehensively track bias-related incidents
in our schools beginning in September." |
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11
June,
2008
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