The incident took place outside JFK International Airport.
New Delhi:
United States today condemned Sikh taxi driver attacked It was described as “deeply disturbing” at JFK International Airport. The State Department said that diversity makes America strong.
“We are deeply disturbed by reports of an apparent attack on a Sikh cab driver at JFK airport, which was captured on video last week. Our diversity makes America stronger, and we are against any form of hate-based violence. Condemn the violence,” posted the official Twitter account of the State Department for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
We are deeply disturbed by reports of an apparent attack on a Sikh cab driver at JFK airport, which was captured on video last week. Our diversity makes America stronger, and we condemn hate-based violence of any kind.
– State_SCA (@State_SCA) 9 January 2022
Emphasizing that no matter where such crimes occur, the State Department said, “We all have a responsibility to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable for their actions.”
response came after Indian Consulate General in New York urges US officials To investigate the incident.
In a 26-second undated video uploaded by Navjot Pal Kaur to Twitter on January 4, a man is shown assaulting a Sikh taxi driver outside the airport.
Ms Kaur said in a tweet that the video was shot by a bystander at the airport.
The person can reportedly be heard using abusive words against the victim. He repeatedly hit and punched her and took off her turban.
“This video was taken by a viewer at John F. Kennedy International Airport. I don’t own the rights to this video. But I just wanted to highlight the fact that hatred persists in our society and unfortunately, I have learned Sikhism. Have seen cab drivers assaulted again and again,” Ms Kaur tweeted.
The US State Department has said 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, regardless of where such crimes occur,” the department said in a tweet.
This 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 a suspected hate crime in the US state of Washington in 2019.
The driver told police he believed his race fueled the attack.
In 2017, a 25-year-old Sikh cab driver in New York was assaulted and turbaned by drunken passengers.
,