Sandeep Dhaliwal carried a badge and a gun while devoting his life to a faith that teaches love and peace.
from behind during a traffic stop Friday, was the first Sikh sheriff’s deputy on a force that covers an area including the nation’s fourth-largest city of Houston. Four years ago he won an accommodation to wear his turban and a beard while patrolling.
The killing came at a time when the U.S. has seen a string of mass shootings, including several recent ones in the Texas cities of El Paso, Odessa and Midland, stoking the debate over the nation’s gun laws. Even so, Dhaliwal’s primary motivation was the ability to live his faith, said his friend Manpreet Kaur Singh, an attorney and Sikh Coalition board member who is not related to Simran Jeet Singh. Sikh men often take Singh as a last name, while women take the last name Kaur, rather than using surnames that would identify them by caste. Manpreet Kaur Singh has both her mother’s and father’s last names.
Some were targets of anti-Islam violence following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, even though Sikhism is unrelated to Islam. “Ever since 9/11 happened, a lot of hate crimes have occurred against the Sikhs,” Azad said. “The way to counter that was exactly the kind of service Sandeep Dhaliwal provided to the larger community.”
“Sikhs have been in this country for more than 100 years, [but] we’ve been absent from the national conversation,” Simran Jeet Singh said. “One of the values of serving in uniform gives us a sense as a community that we are being seen and are being understood.”When Hurricane Harvey ravaged Houston, Dhaliwal joined others in the Sikh community to help feed those left homeless. Then when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, he traveled there to help.
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