Bee education helps Sikh understanding

My congratulations to the staff and the editorial board of The Fresno Bee for highlighting the case of Amrik Singh Bal and for the subsequent excellent article by Carmen George (Jan. 2) on the Sikh faith and its values, while illuminating distinctions surrounding the Sikh community.

These coverages are educational and informative for all readers in the Central Valley of California. For the Sikh community, The Bee has been the leading voice for harmonizing the richness and diversity of cultures among us all.

In order to minimize the recurrence of violence against innocent individuals and to fight xenophobia, educating the young must begin at the earliest level at all schools, public and private.

Several years back, I had the privilege of being a member of a faculty committee for a Ph.D. dissertation defense by a police chief of a large mid-U.S. city. The dissertation was excellent, and it was related to the police-community relations topic in urban America.

Although the candidate passed the examination, he could not identify the differences between outward appearances, in their respective photos, of a Sikh and a Muslim wearing turbans. The response was not unexpected.

Early education on cultural identities is an important issue, indeed.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 6:36 AM with the headline "Bee education helps Sikh understanding."