Isle doctor wants Birendra Huja says his tan complexion and turban have attracted compassion -- and not resentment -- since Sept. 11.
others to see him,
not the enemy
Hawaii's leadership is urged to
educate the public in the wake
of recent terrorist attacksBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.comStrangers, he said, now cross the street to ask him if he is Muslim and then apologize to him for any backlash he may experience.
"I have come across people who are very supportive," said Huja, who wears a beard and turban as symbols of his religion. "People who I've never met, never seen, come from across the street, wave and come talk to me almost every day."
A medical doctor who came to Hawaii from India 33 years ago, Huja's patients have also expressed their concern, telling him and his wife, Sushil, to call if they are attacked.
Unlike suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks, Huja is not Muslim. He is Sikh, a member of a 16th-century Hindu religion based on religious tolerance.
On the mainland, Arab Americans, Muslims and South Asians, including Sikhs, were targets of apparent hate crimes following the terrorist attacks. In Mesa, Ariz., a Sikh man was shot to death at the gas station he ran.
And in San Diego, Huja said, a friend's sister-in-law was stabbed in her car while stopped at an intersection.
"Right now there's a lot of ambiguity in everybody's heart (about) what's going to happen, how it's going to get worse or better," said Huja, who is among six or seven Sikh families living on Oahu and Maui.
While some local Sikhs are concerned about similar backlashes here, Huja said that from what he hears, resentment has been limited to disdainful stares and remarks such as "Go back to Afghanistan."
Still, Huja said, he is asking Gov. Ben Cayetano to meet with religious leaders, much like President George W. Bush did, to show support following the terrorist attacks.
In an Oct. 22 letter to Cayetano, Huja asked the governor to meet with leaders of Islamic, Sikh, Hindu and Jewish faiths to "reassure them and at the same time educate (the) public, police and military that discrimination will not be tolerated on (the) base of cultural and religious background."
In his letter, Huja pointed to an incident at Honolulu Airport in which a Sikh cleric was asked to remove his turban in public -- a highly insulting act. Huja said education is necessary in handling such situations and is also asking Cayetano to set up a separate room at the airport where security checks could be done privately.
Hakim Ouansafi, president and chairman of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, said a meeting would be beneficial because "people look at the leaders in the community as that -- to lead the community into more understanding and compassion."
He said both Cayetano and Mayor Jeremy Harris have spoken with him privately to express support for Muslims, Arabs and other groups. However, Ouansafi added, "It's more important to get the message out than to have the meeting with one person."
The word that he would like to get out is: "We look different, we might worship different, we might speak with different accents, but at the end of the day we are all children of God and children of Adam, and we have to treat each other as such."
