With a patch over his left eye, Jasmir Singh joined community leaders in front of Elmhurst Hospital denouncing the recent wave of violence slamming Queens and the rest of the city.
Singh, a 21-year-old young man who is a member of the Sikh religious community, suffered serious injuries when he was stabbed in the eye on Sunday, Jan. 18. He was the third victim of violent attacks in Northeast Queens within a week. One of the attacks resulted in the death of an 18-year old from Manhattan who was stabbed in the chest by members of a rival gang.
“Enough, already. We are not going to tolerate these crimes,” said Assembly Member José Peralta, who is encouraging citizens and community organizations to start neighborhood associations and collaborate more with the police and the Guardian Angels.
“This is irresponsible, unnecessary, and unacceptable,” he added.
Despite a decline in crime across the city over the last decade, the past few months have seen an eruption of a particular kind of crime – based on hate and discrimination – in this, the most diverse city in the world.
“Usually I feel safe walking through this neighborhood,” said Singh, who called the police from a bodega the night of the attack just after the attackers threatened to cut his hair and beard, both sacred aspects of the Sikh religion. Minutes later, the suspects dragged him into the street and stabbed him with a piece of broken glass.
“I feel disappointed that this happened in my community,” said Singh. A hospital official declared that there is little chance of saving the vision in Singh’s left eye.
A lawyer with the organization, United Sikhs, who represents the victim, said that, although the police have captured and charged two of the three suspects with assault and robbery, both felonies, they are asking the police and the district attorney to investigate the case as a hate crime.
Under New York State law, a person can be prosecuted criminally for a hate crime if the person intentionally marked the victim based on his or her religion or religious practices. However, when he was asked, the lawyer said that Singh was not wearing his turban at the time of the attack.
To put an end to this kind of violence, or at least to slow its increase, a diverse group of activists from the community have demanded greater vigilance in Queens neighborhoods.
“We have to be there outside all the time,” said Arnaldo Salinas, senior director of the Guardian Angels. “We can all do something to prevent this from happening again.”
