Mercury News Apologizes to Sikh Community
The local Sikh community is concerned that a graphic that appeared in a Bay Area English-language newspaper may have sent the wrong message about the origins of the faith, reports Punjabi newspaper Sade Lok.
Some of the comments addressing the incorrect description of Sikhism in the San Jose Mercury News article "Bay Area Sikhs reach out to combat bigotry in schools."
The San Jose Mercury News ran a graphic and informational sidebar to describe the Sikh religion alongside an article about the bullying of Sikh children in Bay Area schools. In the sidebar, titled “About Sikhism,” the paper described the religion as having been “heavily influenced by Hinduism but borrowed from Muslim beliefs.”
The revised graphic on the San Jose Mercury News website describing Sikhism.
Speaking recently at a protest at a the Stockton Sikh temple, prominent Sikh leader Jaswant Singh Hothi told the congregation that these newspapers had used “objectionable vocabulary” in describing the origins of the Sikh religion, report Sade Lok and the Amritsar Times. This information, he feared, could cause massive misunderstanding about Sikhism.
Another Bay Area Sikh leader, Balwinderpal Singh, wondered if the sidebar was part of an elaborate conspiracy, and emphasized the need to stop these “attacks.”
Preacher Bhai Bakhshish Singh pointed out the need for a well-researched book on Sikhism in English that would tell the truth about the fifth largest religion in the world.
Jaski Singh is a columnist for New America Media's Ethnoblog.
"About Sikhism" graphic from San Jose Mercury News.
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