SALDEF Meets with Attorney General to Discuss Sikh Concerns

February 2, 2006

Source: Sikh News Network

http://www.sikhnet.com/Sikhnet/news.nsf/RecentNewsHTML/EE221168D3BD0B3F8725710900664187!OpenDocument

On February 2, 2006 the Sikh News Network reported, "On Monday the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights advocacy organization, met with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to discuss a variety of issues relevant to the Sikh American community.

At the meeting, SALDEF Associate Director Rajbir Singh Datta discussed the need for making the post of Special Counsel for Post-9/11 National Origin Discrimination, created after September 11, 2001 a full-time and permanent position... SALDEF also discussed the need for a separate Sikh category in the hate crime section of the FBI Annual Hate Crimes Report, continuing federal dialogue with the Sikh American community and increasing recruitment of Sikh Americans into the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, and the United States Attorney’s Office... Other concerns which were addressed included immigration policies, the secret NSA wiretapping program, the effects of the PATRIOT Act, and the tight regulation of charities. Representatives from the Arab, Muslim, South Asian, and Sikh communities also attended."