NEW YORK: The trial of Umair Ahmed, who has been indicted for forcibly cutting the hair of a Sikh classmate in May last year, began in a Queens Court on Feb 29. Ahmed, 17, has been indicted on a total of nine charges, four of which are hate crimes.
The incident in question occurred on May 24, 2007, at Newtown High School in Queens, New York, according to a police deposition. The victim, whose name is not being released in order to protect his identity, was allegedly approached by Ahmed, who declared, "I have to cut your hair." After the victim explained to his would-be assailant that cutting hair was against his religion, the latter showed signs of becoming violent, and threatened to punch the victim with a ring.
Feeling threatened by Ahmed’s behavior and the fact that Ahmed was wielding the ring and a pair of scissors, the Sikh student feared for his safety and followed his attacker’s instructions to go to the bathroom with him. It was in the bathroom where Ahmed allegedly forced the victim to remove his turban, which he wore over his then-unshorn hair, and then proceeded to cut the Sikh boy’s hair after threatening physical harm.
The hair was thrown into the toilet and onto the floor by the attacker. After the incident, the United Sikhs worked with the victim and his family to relocate the child to another school due to the fact that his original school claimed they could not guarantee his safety. Kesh, or unshorn hair, is a Sikh article of faith that is obligatory for a Sikh to keep at all times.
"Cutting a Sikh’s hair is an attack, not only on a Sikh as a person, but also an attack on their faith," commented Jaspreet Singh, Staff Attorney for United Sikhs. Ahmed was indicted in September of 2007 by a grand jury that added the four additional hate crime charges. Currently, Ahmed is being charged with the following counts.
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