After a sustained campaign following a spate of hate crimes and racial profiling across the US, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has finally decided to track such crimes against the Sikhs, Hindus and Arabs.
The FBI's Advisory Policy Board on Wednesday voted to create new religion tracking categories based on religious groups enumerated in Pew Forum studies and the US Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract.
In light of the decision, the FBI will now come up with uniform crime reporting programme technical enhancements, procedural changes, and manual revision to begin collecting the data, according to FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer.
The new changes, however, are expected to be implemented only by 2015.Even so, the Sikh Coalition, which has been spearheading the campaign, welcomed the decision.
Two years ago, members of the Sikh community, who have borne the brunt of hate crimes ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, approached the authorities with demands for a special FBI focus on the problem.
The Sikh Coalition first requested that FBI begin tracking hate crimes against Sikh Americans, the way it does in the case of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Atheists.
During this period, Sikhs have been subjected to a spate of suspected hate attacks in California, Florida, New York and Washington.
Then came the massacre of six Sikh worshippers at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin last August.
Responding to their pleas, over 140 Senators and Representatives of both the Democratic and Republican parties came out in strong support of adding hate crime tracking categories for Sikhs, Hindus and Arabs.
In surveys conducted by the Sikh Coalition in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly 10 per cent of Sikh adults have claimed that they have experienced physical violence or property damage because of their religion.
"We are grateful to the FBI's advisory policy board for recognizing that Sikhs are targeted because of their distinct Sikh identity, especially their turbans, and for voting to give our community the dignity of recognition," said Rajdeep Singh, Director of law and Policy for the Sikh Coalition.
"The new changes will strengthen diagnostic and deterrence efforts; increase awareness about Sikhs among law enforcement officials nationwide; and encourage Sikhs to begin reporting
hate crimes to local, State,
and federal authorities," Singh said.
Joe Crowley, the Democratic lawmaker from New York, expressed happiness with the FBI decision. "While today is a great victory, our work to fight hate crimes against Sikhs cannot and will not end here. I'm proud to have worked with the Sikh Coalition from the very beginning on this issue, and will continue to work to put an end to these attacks once and for all,"
he said.