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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sikh</strong> <strong>Bulletin</strong> vYswK 537 April 2005<br />
For Immediate Release March 29, 2005<br />
Media Contact: Mary Yancey Spencer (804) 775-0575<br />
University of Richmond Student, Advocate for <strong>Sikh</strong><br />
Rights, Wins Hill Pro Bono Award<br />
issues, and discussions with video game manufacturers and<br />
filmmakers about racist portrayals of <strong>Sikh</strong>s.<br />
Meanwhile, Sidhu maintained a full academic load and took<br />
on more leadership responsibilities at school. He was<br />
elected secretary of the Student Bar Association in his first<br />
year and is now president of the association. In that role, he<br />
encourages all students to perform community services.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir projects include an after-school mentoring program<br />
for elementary and middle school children at a Richmond<br />
housing project.<br />
As he was preparing for his law school exams in November<br />
2004, a Chesterfield County gas station owned by <strong>Sikh</strong>s was<br />
set on fire and graffiti hate speech was painted on<br />
outbuildings. Sidhu served as a liaison between the <strong>Sikh</strong><br />
community and law enforcement.<br />
In nominating Sidhu for the Hill Award, UR Law School<br />
Dean Rodney A. Smolla described him as “a young man<br />
who has spent much of his young life and all of his law<br />
school career emulating Hill’s devotion to justice, inclusion<br />
and civil rights for all people. … In my 24 years of law<br />
teaching, I can think of no student more deserving of an<br />
award bearing Oliver Hill’s name.”<br />
Amandeep Singh Sidhu, a University of Richmond law<br />
student who immersed himself in fighting prejudice against<br />
the <strong>Sikh</strong> community after the terrorist attacks of 2001, has<br />
been named the 2005 recipient of the Virginia State Bar’s<br />
Oliver W. Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award.<br />
<strong>The</strong> award, named for a Richmond lawyer who was<br />
instrumental in the cases that desegregated public schools,<br />
will be presented during the 15th Annual VSB Pro Bono<br />
Conference on May 12 at the law school.<br />
Sidhu, born in Norfolk and raised in Chesterfield County, is<br />
the son of physicians originally from Punjab, India.<br />
He was a teenager when he adopted the <strong>Sikh</strong> articles of faith,<br />
one manifestation of which is to wear a turban to cover uncut<br />
hair. When the September 11, 2001, attacks occurred, Sidhu<br />
was a College of William and Mary graduate working with<br />
American Management Systems Inc. in Washington, D.C.<br />
That day, he was driven off a road by an irate driver.<br />
His response was to become an advocate for <strong>Sikh</strong>s and other<br />
minority communities who were targeted in the aftermath of<br />
the terrorist attacks. As a founding member of the New<br />
York-based <strong>Sikh</strong> Coalition, he became involved in such<br />
issues as racial profiling, post-9/11 security and employment<br />
*****<br />
US SHUTS DOOR ON MODI AGAIN<br />
New Delhi, March 21, 2005<br />
Sticking to its stand, the USA today rejected India’s request<br />
for review of the decision on denying visa to Gujarat Chief<br />
Minister Narendra Modi, citing his role in 2002 riots in the<br />
state. Washington, however, maintained that the decision<br />
applied only to Mr Modi and not to his party BJP or the<br />
Gujarati community.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Ministry of External Affairs requested the Department<br />
of State to review the decision to revoke his (Modi’s)<br />
tourist/business visa. Upon review, the State Department reaffirmed<br />
the original decision,” US Ambassador to India<br />
David C. Mulford told reporters here. He said the decision<br />
was “based on the fact” that as head of the Gujarat<br />
Government between February and May 2002, “he was<br />
responsible for the performance of state institutions at that<br />
time.” India regrets decision. India today regretted that the<br />
USA had not revised its decision not to grant visa to Mr<br />
Modi in spite of its request for an urgent reconsideration.<br />
PTI<br />
[We applaud the decision of the Department of State to deny visa to Mr.<br />
Modi. Perhaps this is indicative of State Department finally getting wise as<br />
to the cleverness of the Indian Govt. of convincing the State Department in<br />
the past that <strong>Sikh</strong>s are terrorists resulting in State Dept. echoing that<br />
sentiment in its video on International Terrorism for use in public schools<br />
and even Presidential candidate John Kerry falling prey to that lie. ED.]<br />
*****<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Sikh</strong> Center Roseville, 201 Berkeley Ave, Roseville, CA. 95678 21