Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On September 16, 2001, The St. Louis Post Dispatch ran the editorial "Harassment of Sikhs tells us now is time to unite." Greg Freeman wrote, "Harprit S. Puri is an American. ...Puri, who is originally from India, is a member of the Sikh religion. The religion requires its members not to cut their hair. As a result, the men typically wear turbans and beards; the women wear their hair very long. Because of this, the Puris - and other Sikhs in St. Louis - have been verbally attacked in the aftermath of Tuesday's acts of terrorism in New York and Washington...In many ways, folks like Puri are among the most American of us - following the laws, respecting the rights of others and expecting others to respect his rights as well." The writer concluded, "This is hardly the time for internal squabbling. It's hard to defeat an enemy when you're fighting one another. Now is the time for unity. Those who don't get it are liabilities to our nation."