New Delhi: Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has announced a contribution of $10,000 towards an awareness campaign to educate Americans about Sikhism and Sikh Identity. DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK and General Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa appeared with Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) and Senior Advisor to the Washington based National Sikh Campaign, in New Delhi in a press meet and endorsed an American Sikh plan to reach out to millions of fellow Americans. This awareness initiative is being spearheaded by newly formed National Sikh Campaign (NSC) based in Washington.
A release by DSGMC says NSC has engaged AKPD, a high profile media consultancy founded by US President Obama’s top political strategists David Axelrod and David Plouffe, which has managed Obama’s senate election and two presidential campaigns. APKD has submitted a plan to launch a presidential style nationwide media campaign on Sikhs.
Rajwant Singh (L) and Manjit Singh GK (R)
Sikhs in the United States have faced numerous incidents of violence, discrimination and prejudice since 9/11 due to ignorance about Sikhism. A country- wide survey and polling was conducted by Hart Research Associates headed by Geoffrey Garrin, Hillary Clinton’s former top political strategist. The purpose of this most comprehensive study about Sikhs in America was to identify the problem of ignorance and confusion about Sikh identity and suggest remedies for them. The findings of this research was released last month which concluded that 60% of Americans knew nothing about Sikhs and only 3% of them have interacted with Sikhs. Over 48% identified them as either Arabs or Muslims. 54% of the Americans were neutral towards Sikhs and 16% were cool. However, upon learning about the Sikhs, Americans warmed up to them across demographics. AKPD will prepare ads based on these findings and these ads will be vetted by experts before national media campaign is launched.
DSGMC President Manjit Singh GK said, “We feel that DSGMC has the moral responsibility to support such innovative strategies to fight ignorance and prejudice against Sikhs and to educate all non-Sikhs about Sikh religion and its traditions. We are satisfied with this approach and this will help in changing the perception of the Sikhs in USA. We stand behind any plan to make our community strong in America.”
Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education and Senior Advisor to the National Sikh Campaign, said, “We are grateful to DSGMC for this kind gesture and it sends a strong message to the entire American Sikh community that Sikhs in India care for them. This is the most significant step taken by the Sikh community in the United States and this kind of high level media campaign is critical for our community’s standing. There is no substitute for media strategy and it is imperative that all Sikhs join in this effort. We appeal to all Sikhs to contribute generously to make sure our coming generations do not face the negative environment.”
Gurwin Singh Ahuja, Co-Founder of NSC, said, “DSGMC’s support is big boost to this effort and we are highly encouraged by this contribution. We are confident that this campaign will produce the desired results for the community.”