Religion
Italy: Sikhs to pray for Indian attack victim
Rome, 5 Feb. (AKI) - The Province of Rome's Sikhs will be holding prayers on Sunday for a homeless Indian man who was brutally attacked last weekend and set on fire in the Lazio coastal town of Nettuno, two community leaders told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"We are dismayed and angry.We are certain it was a racist attack and we will be praying for him on Sunday," the president of Rome's Via Aurelia Sikh temple, Balbir Singh told AKI.
Homeless Sikh illegal immigrant Navtej Singh Sidhu is currently in Rome's St. Eugenio hospital with a fractured skull and 40 percent burns to his body.
He was hit over the head with a bottle, kicked, punched and set alight by assailants around 4 am last Sunday as he slept on a bench at Nettuno's train station. Three local youths have been arrested and charged with attempted murder over the attack.
"What happened in Nettuno was strange and could be a sign of worse times ahead," said Singh, who owns a blacksmith's business.
"When I came here, there was more respect. We are a hardworking and respectful people that wants peace," said Singh.
Like Sidhu, Singh is originally from India's northwest state of Punjab. He has lived in Italy for 20 years and said the climate has worsened for immigrants here in recent years since Italy became a destination for mass immigration.
There are around 10,000 Sikhs in Rome and 15-20,000 in the Province of Rome out of a total 25-30,000 Indians. Most are employed as labourers, mainly in agriculture.
Singh Agit, who leads the Sikh temple in the Nettuno suburb of Padiglione, agreed the attack against Sidhu was worrying. "It is the first time such an awful thing has happened to one of our lads," he told AKI.
Singh and Ajit said they are grateful to Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno who earlier this week on television announced that he will give Sidhu a permanent job and accommodation when he gets out of the hospital.
He is due to undergo his first skin graft on his legs on Friday. Doctors say he will require several operations and will be in the hospital for several months.
He became homeless when he lost his job as a builder's labourer four months ago after his residency permit expired.
Currently, residency permits are issued which are valid for only four to five months. It can take seven to eight months to get these renewed, meaning the new one has already expired by the time the immigrant receives it.
Singh and Ajit both urged Italy to streamline the costly and cumbersome bureaucracy which can make life doubly hard for immigrants.
Ajit went further, arguing that immigrants must have the same entitlements as Italian workers. "Italians must help immigrants," he said.
"That means making affordable accommodation available and giving them the same pay and benefits as Italians who do the same job," Ajit said.
Immigrants working as agricultural labourers in the area around Nettuno typically earn around two or three euros an hour, and to make ends meet work up to 12 hours a day, he said.
Some employers pay late, and sometimes don't pay their labourers at all, said Ajit, who has lived in Italy since 1991.
Also from Punjab, he is currently unemployed and has worked in agriculture, in a florist's and a supermarket.
He is currently seeking help from Italy's largest union CGIL in obtaining severance and sick pay from the supermarket, which fired him after he broke his leg and was off work for an extended period.
"We are dismayed and angry.We are certain it was a racist attack and we will be praying for him on Sunday," the president of Rome's Via Aurelia Sikh temple, Balbir Singh told AKI.
Homeless Sikh illegal immigrant Navtej Singh Sidhu is currently in Rome's St. Eugenio hospital with a fractured skull and 40 percent burns to his body.
He was hit over the head with a bottle, kicked, punched and set alight by assailants around 4 am last Sunday as he slept on a bench at Nettuno's train station. Three local youths have been arrested and charged with attempted murder over the attack.
"What happened in Nettuno was strange and could be a sign of worse times ahead," said Singh, who owns a blacksmith's business.
"When I came here, there was more respect. We are a hardworking and respectful people that wants peace," said Singh.
Like Sidhu, Singh is originally from India's northwest state of Punjab. He has lived in Italy for 20 years and said the climate has worsened for immigrants here in recent years since Italy became a destination for mass immigration.
There are around 10,000 Sikhs in Rome and 15-20,000 in the Province of Rome out of a total 25-30,000 Indians. Most are employed as labourers, mainly in agriculture.
Singh Agit, who leads the Sikh temple in the Nettuno suburb of Padiglione, agreed the attack against Sidhu was worrying. "It is the first time such an awful thing has happened to one of our lads," he told AKI.
Singh and Ajit said they are grateful to Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno who earlier this week on television announced that he will give Sidhu a permanent job and accommodation when he gets out of the hospital.
He is due to undergo his first skin graft on his legs on Friday. Doctors say he will require several operations and will be in the hospital for several months.
He became homeless when he lost his job as a builder's labourer four months ago after his residency permit expired.
Currently, residency permits are issued which are valid for only four to five months. It can take seven to eight months to get these renewed, meaning the new one has already expired by the time the immigrant receives it.
Singh and Ajit both urged Italy to streamline the costly and cumbersome bureaucracy which can make life doubly hard for immigrants.
Ajit went further, arguing that immigrants must have the same entitlements as Italian workers. "Italians must help immigrants," he said.
"That means making affordable accommodation available and giving them the same pay and benefits as Italians who do the same job," Ajit said.
Immigrants working as agricultural labourers in the area around Nettuno typically earn around two or three euros an hour, and to make ends meet work up to 12 hours a day, he said.
Some employers pay late, and sometimes don't pay their labourers at all, said Ajit, who has lived in Italy since 1991.
Also from Punjab, he is currently unemployed and has worked in agriculture, in a florist's and a supermarket.
He is currently seeking help from Italy's largest union CGIL in obtaining severance and sick pay from the supermarket, which fired him after he broke his leg and was off work for an extended period.
