May 25, 2007
Yo Mama Joke Leads to Sikh Attack
Beware the yo mama joke: After some "friends" were yo-mama-joking around at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, two students cut off the hair of another student. And the victim is a Sikh, whose religion requires long hair to be worn.
Apparently Pakistani students Waqas Ali and Umair Ahmed had been joking with Sikh student Harpaal Vashar, although some other reports claim that they were trading insults. But Vashar's joke went too far, and Ahmed would "only accept a haircut as an apology," according to the AP. And then Ahmed allegedly decided to force a haircut on Vashar, with Ali's help, in a basement bathroom at the high school.
Ahmed, who is 17, was charged with unlawful imprisonment, menacing and aggravated harassment - all as hate crimes. Fifteen-year-old Ali was charged as a juvenile on the same counts. Ali's father told the Daily News, "This is a mistake. This boy is a very good friend of my son. Last week, he was in my home," and other students and teachers felt that the attack was not a reflection on the school.
The Empire Zone wondered if it was a bias attack or juvenile brawl. What do you think?
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Sounds like kid stuff to me... the articles clearly state that they were all friends and hung out with each other.
That must have been one powerful "yo mama" joke.
i don't know why no one respects my ganja toking religion! haters!!
Yo mama so Sikh, House can't help her. ZING!
Yo mama so Sikh, House can't cure her... ZING!
The Sikh religion demands they wear their hair long and Ahmed would only accept a hair cut as an apology? If they can prove he knew about the Sikh religious demand I see no problem with charging him with a hate crime.
Yeah, this "payback" for a joke seem particularly brutal. I suppose the Queens DA's decision has to do with how much the attackers understand the victim's religion.
It surprising how few people are disturbed by enforcement of thought crime laws... "unlawful imprisonment, menacing and aggravated harassment" are rational and should be prosecuted as per the plantiffs wishes. Hate/bias laws step over the line, especially with religion, because I'd love to invent some bogus belief system that totally benefits only me. It's my religion, damn it!
the kid should be charged. it was a clear racial assult.
once again, the muslims resort to violence.
pathetic.
Muslims and Sikhs have been at each other's throats for hundreds of years in the Asian Subcontinent...they killed almost a million of each other when India was paritioned...i guess these two kids must have carried out their parent's biases
if violence on behalf of these kids is indicative of the essence of "Muslims" as group, then isn't the particularly insensitive nature of the yo-mama joke of the Sikh kid indicative of the insulting essence of "Sikhs" as a group. By the same logic, isn't your rush to generalize, extrapolate, and leap to Islamophobia indicative of the idiotic essence of "Hindus" as a group. American Hindu Sahaab, your logic is flawless.
I doubt it goes to trial. Prob will end w/ heavy community service hours for both the kids, to serve the Sikh religious community. Clean their temples, their community centers, do filing for their advocacy groups, etc. Jail time for this would totally miss the boat. They're kids and they need to learn their lesson, to respect other faiths--not to get gang-raped in prison showers.
Lastly, not sure if this meets the criteria of a hate crime legally. A hate crime is committed when the motive of the attack is someone's race, ethnicity, religion, ability/disability, or sexual orientation. Here the motive was revenge, and they just used whatever meant most to the kid. Particularly cruel, yes, but he wasn't targeted for being Sikh.
I think at the end of the day this situation reflects the failure of the American education system...there is no discipline in our schools, someone should have intervened before the fight made its way into the bathroom.
chill hindu saab thanks for the compliment, my logic is flawless.
there is a history of violence with muslims.
there is not a histroy of sikhs and yo-mama insults.
thank you.
If you can't take it, Don't start it !
hey "sikhning" fuckers!!! ppl first this is all bullshit....media is telling a whole fucked up story!!! i'll tell u wat happened....the ugly bastard vanchar wanted 2 cut off his hair n was saying this 2 all the students in school...he then was in the bathroom finally cutting off his hair b himself ven in the end asked the otha boy in friendship to juz trim his ends....the boy did it so not knowing that this wud bcum a big issue!!!! so the mama pussy sucker blamed on the otha boy .... fuck u sikhzz... all muslims shud pray for the pak boy...THIS IS THE REAL STORY!!!!!
Achmed, the perpetrator, announced before attacking the victim "“This ring is Allah. If you don’t let me cut your hair, I will punch you with this ring”. Most of the evidence is that the victim had met with him in order to apologize for the insult. He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.