Hate Attack , not much response!

St Benedicts College & Merseyside Police Fail To Protect Eleven Year Old Victim of Racist Hate Crime

An eleven year old boy was attacked in a racist hate crime in Liverpool in full public view on a packed bus and not a single person bothered to help him. Far from it, onlookers watched on as the child was maliciously assaulted by having his turban ripped from his head and a tirade of racist abuse was hurled at him by a group of nine older caucasian youths.

Arjan Rhode was attacked by a gang of teenagers last Monday afternoon on the 82 service in Garston. The bus was packed, around school leaving time at 3.10pm, but nobody intervened.

Police arrested only one boy aged 17 on suspicion of a religiously aggravated public order offence. He was being questioned by officers and the matter could have been passed to the force’s Sigma Unit, which deals with hate crime.

Police claim they are currently examining CCTV tapes from the bus.

SSNews contacted St Benedicts College and Merseyside Police to explain why they failed to protect the child, why they have subsequently not fully investigated and held to account all the perpetrators of this racist hate crime and finally why they have not put into place adequate measures to prevent this kind of hate crime ever happening again.

St Benedicts College issued a statement saying:

'Any racist incidents are totally against the ethos of our Catholic College. Such incidents are always condemned, thoroughly investigated and action taken.'

'Indications so far are that any perpetrator does not attend Saint Benedict's College. We have contacted the police and will be working with them to identify anyone involved.'

The Mission Statement of the College reads:

"We provide a safe, secure and happy environment."

Clearly they and Merseyside Police failed to protect this child.

The Sikh Community worldwide is outraged that such a serious Race-Hate Crime has not been categorically denounced by a wider proportion of the community in Garston, Liverpool and that this Hate Crime has not been investigated and the perpetrators punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Should all children not be safe to travel to and from school without being made a victim of a racist hate crime?

Merseyside Police have not yet issued a statement.

Turban Attack In School

(Hightstown, NJ) May 12, 2008 - New Jersey's Sikh community is outraged after a fellow student set fire to the turban worn by the Sikh teenager in an unprovoked attack at school.

What Happened

The victim, who is a minor and would like to remain anonymous, is one of only two turban-wearing Sikhs attending Hightstown High School in New Jersey. On Monday, May 5, 2008, the school held a fire drill and all students were instructed to gather on the school playground. The Sikh student was chatting to his friends when a student he did not know came up behind him and set fire to his patka using a lighter.

The Sikh student "felt something hot" on his head and immediately patted his patka to put out the flames. Disaster was averted, but a great deal of emotional damage had already been done.

"No mother should have to worry that her child could be hurt at school because of the way he looks," said Sukhjot Kaur, the teenager's mother.

A History of Violence in New Jersey

This is not the first time a Sikh child has been attacked in New Jersey schools. A bias-motivated attack against a Sikh boy at Marlboro High School in 2003 led to severe contusions to his head and his parents' eventual decision to move him back to school in Britain. As a result of that incident, New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights found "probable cause" that the school failed to meet its legal obligations when it did not protect the boy from bias-based harassment at school.

In 2006, Lucille Davey, the head of New Jersey's Department of Education, sent a memorandum to all school superintendents calling on all schools to protect Sikh children from harassment. That memorandum cited more bias incidents against Sikh students in New Jersey.

The Sikh Coalition calls on Hightstown High School to take immediate action to address this incident with the school community. Specifically, we recommend that Hightstown High School conduct a school assembly to explain what happened and why the attacker's behavior was especially atrocious; publish an article about the incident in the school newsletter; include information about Sikhs in its social studies curriculum; mandate teacher-led discussions regarding the issue in homeroom period; and do its utmost to ensure that the attacker is held accountable for his actions.

We understand that the attacker has been reported to police and suspended from school. The Sikh Coalition also calls on the local police and prosecutors to take all appropriate measures against the perpetrator, and to prosecute the incident as a hate crime, if the evidence supports such a charge.

"Hightstown High School has an obligation not only to ensure the safety of its pupils, but also to foster students' appreciation for their community's religious diversity," said Harsimran Kaur, Staff Attorney, Sikh Coalition. "We call on the school and local police to take immediate action to ensure this does not happen again"

The Coalition will work with the local community and police to address this matter. The Coalition continues encourages all Sikhs to fearlessly practice their faith and stand up for their rights.

Picture of burnt Turban