US to probe attack on Sikh taxi driver

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 9

The US said it was committed to investigating a possible case of hate-based violence in which a Sikh taxi driver was assaulted at the JFK International Airport.

“We all have a responsibility to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable for their actions, no matter where such crimes occur,” said the US State Department in a statement.

An undated 26-second video uploaded on January 4 purportedly shows a man assaulting the Sikh taxi driver outside what appears to be JFK International Airport.

The Indian mission in New York has already urged the US authorities to investigate the incident. “The assault against a Sikh taxi driver in New York is deeply disturbing. We have taken up the matter with the US authorities and urged them to investigate this violent incident,” said the Consulate General of India in New York.

The US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) said in a social media post that it was “deeply disturbed” by reports of an apparent attack on a Sikh cab driver at the JFK Airport, captured on video last week. “Our diversity makes the US stronger and we condemn any form of hate-based violence,” it said.