FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2015
CONTACT:
Brandon Lee
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
773-271-0899 x200
blee@advancingjustice-chicago.org
Reema Kapur
South Asian American Policy and Research Institute
773-373-9750
reema@saapri.org
ASIAN AMERICANS OUTRAGED BY XENOPHOBIC ATTACK ON SIKH AMERICAN MAN IN CHICAGO SUBURB
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and South Asian American Policy and Research Institute (SAAPRI) are outraged by the heinous, xenophobic attack on Inderjit Singh Mukker, a 53 year old Sikh American resident from the Darien Suburb of Chicago.
“SAAPRI strongly condemns hate-fueled violence, racism, and anti-immigrant actions and rhetoric. Racially motivated violence diminishes our whole society,” said Reema Kapur, Executive Director of SAAPRI. “Community organizations and the South Asian community must stand together in solidarity against hate and violence and promote compassion and respect for diversity.”
On Tuesday, September 9th, 2015, Mr. Mukker was brutally assaulted by the driver of another vehicle while on his way to the grocery store. The driver allegedly yelled racial slurs at Mr. Mukker, including “terrorist” Bin Laden!” and “go back to your country!,” before approaching Mr. Mukker’s car, reaching inside, and repeatedly punching him in the face. This assault caused Mr. Mukker to lose consciousness, and left him with a fractured cheekbone and a laceration to his cheek. According to the Washington Post, the suspect is in custody, and the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
In the 14 years since 9/11, hate crimes against Sikhs, Muslims, South Asian Americans, and Arab Americans have grown exponentially. “Hate crimes like this one have absolutely no place in our society,” said Tuyet Le, Executive Director of Advancing Justice | Chicago. “From the Oak Creek massacre to the North Carolina shootings; from police brutality in Alabama to yesterday’s assault of Inderjit Singh Mukker in Darien, Illinois; it is clear that this type of xenophobia and Islamophobia exists in our communities, and we will not tolerate it in Chicago or anywhere else.”
In 2012, Advancing Justice | Chicago and SAAPRI supported HR1193, which encourages violence prevention against Sikh, Muslim, South Asian, and Arab American communities in Illinois in the wake of the massacre on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
To learn more about updates on this case and how you can help, please visit the Sikh Coalition at http://www.sikhcoalition.org/
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Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago is the leading pan-Asian, multi-issue organization in the Midwest dedicated to empowering the Asian American community through advocacy by utilizing education, research, and coalition-building. Established in 1992, Advancing Justice | Chicago (formerly the Asian American Institute) was founded by a group of visionary Chicago community activists, academicians, and business leaders in response to the growing need to build a pan-Asian policy agenda among Chicago’s diverse Asian American communities. Advancing Justice | Chicago projects a united voice on the most pressing issues of concern to Asian Americans in metropolitan Chicago.
Advancing Justice | Chicago is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is a member of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice national affiliation, with partner affiliates in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta.
SAAPRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization established in 2001 to improve the lives of South Asian Americans in the Chicago area, by using research to formulate equitable and socially responsible public policy.