Deeply disturbing: India seeks justice for attacked Sikh taxi driver in NYC, US vows action

A screen grab of the incident that happened at the JFK International Airport, (Photo credit: Twitter/@navjotpkaur)

Terming the assault on a Sikh taxi driver at the JFK International Airport "deeply disturbing", the Indian Consulate General in New York urged the United States authorities to take action against the assailant. A 26-second video uploaded by Navjot Pal Kaur on Twitter on January 4 showed a man assaulting the Sikh taxi driver outside the airport.

"This video was taken by a bystander at John F Kennedy International Airport. I do not own the rights to this video. But I just wanted to highlight the fact that hatred continues to remain in our society and unfortunately, I've seen Sikh cab drivers get assaulted again and again," Kaur tweeted.

"The assault against a Sikh taxi driver in New York is deeply disturbing. We have taken up the matter with US authorities and urged them to investigate this violent incident," the Consulate General of India in New York tweeted on Saturday. After the Indian Consulate lodged a formal protest with the US authorities, the State Department condemned the incident, terming it "deeply disturbing". The State Department also said that diversity makes the US stronger.

"We are deeply disturbed by reports of an apparent attack on a Sikh cab driver at J.F.K. airport, captured on video last week. Our diversity makes the U.S. stronger, & we condemn any form of hate-based violence," the official Twitter account of the State Department for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs posted. "We all have a responsibility to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable for their actions," the State Department said, before adding that it will investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable.

"We all have a responsibility to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable for their actions, no matter where such crimes occur," the department said in a tweet. It must be noted that it is not the first time a Sikh taxi driver has been assaulted in the US. An Indian-origin Sikh Uber driver was assaulted and racially abused in the US state of Washington in a suspected hate crime in 2019.

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