Resilient, Not Shaken: 25 Years Since 9/11 and the Path Forward for the US-based Sikh Community
By Harman Singh
Twenty-five years ago, the smoke rising from the Twin Towers signaled a seismic shift in the American consciousness. For the Sikh community, the tragedy had a dual nature. First, we grieved as Americans for our fallen neighbors and the attack on the country we loved. Then, we steeled ourselves—knowing that we would be forced to defend our very right to exist against a tidal wave of hate, profiling, and violence.
The post-9/11 era was undoubtedly a formative event that shook the sense of how Sikhs viewed ourselves within the American fabric. Our very visibility—including articles of faith like turbans and uncut hair, but also brown skin, accents, and other aspects of our intersectional identities—was weaponized against us by those who chose ignorance over pluralism. Out of that crisis, the Sikh Coalition and many other organizations were born, joining a burgeoning ecosystem of institutions dedicated to ensuring that no Sikh should have to choose between their faith and their safety.
However, as we reflect on this quarter-century milestone, we must be clear about one thing: While 9/11 shook our sense of place, it never shook who we are. The resilience we continue to see from Sikhs today is not a new phenomenon, but the continuation of a legacy that has defined our people for centuries. In the past two years alone, our community has marked profound milestones that anchor our resolve.
First, we recently observed the 350th Shaheedi Purab (martyrdom anniversary) of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, who laid down his life to protect the religious freedom of those of faiths other than his own. In 1675, the Guru courted arrest by Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire to directly challenge the ruler’s campaign to pressure Kashmiri Hindu Pandits into religious conversion. Guru Tegh Bahadur and three of his companions were brutally executed for refusing to turn away from their own faith, marking a critical historical moment in defense of the religious freedom of others that inspires Sikhs around the world to this day.
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