American Sikh Public Affairs Association

04/27/2021

Singh & Kaur Park has officially opened as a joint project between City of Elk Grove - City Hall and Cosumnes CSD Parks and Recreation. Thank you to the community, the Sikh Sangat, and everyone that participated in this Seva to ensure that Gurmej Singh and Surinder Singh are remembered along with the sacrifices of their families and the uplifiting spirit of the Elk Grove community.

The murder of these two grandfathers has not been solved. Somewhere there are witnesses to these crimes. We ask everyone to continue to share and discuss so that justice may be served. For more information about the incident, see this link. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/two-sikh-grandfathers-be-remembered-park-n619706

Special thanks to former Elk Grove Mayors Gary Davis, Steve Ly, and Steve Detrick for their support in this endeavor. We cannot overstate the hard work by CSD and City staff, especially CSD Chief of Planning, Design & Construction, Paul Mewton, for listening to the community and incorporating our culture into the design.

In addition to Punjabi design elements, we advocated to ensure that the Park included original public artwork from local artist Ritu Deol Atwal. Thank you to the City of Elk Grove Arts Commission for making that possible.

Finally, our appreciation to Amar Shergill for his efforts in making the application, leading community advocacy, working with CSD staff on design, and sitting on the advisory committee to select the artwork.

02/08/2021

Thank you Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman Brad Sherman of the India Caucus for addressing our community's concerns to the Indian Ambassador regarding ongoing human rights violations against farmers and their allies. Attached is the letter re specific cases that they have agreed to take up directly for the Indian govt to address.

If anyone wants to bring additional cases to the attention of the Indian govt, please reply here as Rep. Khanna has committed to leading the US effort to ensure that human rights are safeguarded. The more scrutiny we bring, the more likely we are to decreasing suffering and abuse.

Thank you to The Sikh Coalition for all of their support and to the many activists around the world working to bring pressure on the Indian govt to repeal these laws and stop their harassment and abuse of farmers, protestors, journalists, and allies.

Please forgive any errors or omissions as we worked on a short timeline to make this happen. We will continue to amend and transmit additional information as needed. We are open to collaboration with more experienced parties that are working on the ground in India with better info.

11/07/2020

Art project approved for future Singh & Kaur Park.

The Elk Grove City Council on Oct. 28 approved plans for $35,000 to be spent on a pair of public art sculptures for Elk Grove’s future Singh and Kaur Park.

06/04/2020

Pleased to announce that the City of Elk Grove - City Hall is looking for artists to apply for fabrication of Punjabi artwork as part of a seat wall in Singh & Kaur Park. The park is being managed by Cosumnes CSD Parks and Recreation and they have worked hard to incorporate Desi elements into the design.

If you know any artists, please share this with them. It does not matter if they have prior experience in public art or in a specific medium. The City is looking for design concepts and is willing to work with the artist to make the chosen art fit the project.

The full Request for Proposal is available at this link: https://tinyurl.com/SandKPark

This is a project we have been working on since 2016, commemorating the late Surinder Singh and Gurmej Singh, as well as their families. Both of these grandfathers were shot and killed in 2011 while walking in their neighborhood. The murderer(s) has not been apprehended.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/two-sikh-grandfathers-be-remembered-park-n619706

http://www.egcitizen.com/news/design-plans-approved-for-singh-and-kaur-park/article_3540c964-9e5c-11e7-9e32-07272b06fe88.html

12/27/2019

We are pleased to report that design, funds, and contractor have been approved for 'Singh and Kaur Park' in Elk Grove, including memorials for Gurmej Singh and Surinder Singh. Their memories will live on and we remain hopeful that their murderer will one day be identified.

Thank you to the City of Elk Grove and the Cosumnes Services District for their work on this project. Construction will begin in 2020. Chardi kala.

Local parks provider, the Cosumnes Community Services District (CSD) plans to open Singh and Kaur Park in Elk Grove’s Laguna Ridge area in late 2020 or early 2021. The CSD

11/21/2019

Cross country coach Ray Hausler, “Not only is he different and wears a turban and looks different than everybody. He also is minutes faster than everybody else on his team.”

It’s easy to recognize Gulab Singh when he lines up at the start of a high school cross country meet. He’s the one wearing the turban. Singh is Sikh and came to the United States from I…

08/27/2019

07/27/2019

The Gurdwara in Hughson (near Modesto) was attacked in a hate crime. The religious caretaker living at the facility was also assaulted as the bigot hurled epithets including 'go back to your country'. The culprit remains at large. We stand in solidarity with the Sangat in the San Joaquin Valley and call upon law enforcement to investigate this incident as a hate crime.

A priest at a Sikh Temple near Modesto, California, was assaulted by an intruder on temple grounds Thursday in an apparent hate crime. The intruder told him to go back to his own country before fleeing.

07/27/2019

The Gurdwara in Hughson(near Modesto) was attacked in a hate crime. The religious caretaker living at the facility was also assaulted as the bigot hurled epithets that made clear his hate. The culprit remains at large. We stand in solidarity with the Sangat in the San Joaquin Valley and call upon law enforcement to investigate this incident as a hate crime.

A priest at a Sikh Temple near Modesto, California, was assaulted by an intruder on temple grounds Thursday in an apparent hate crime. The intruder told him to go back to his own country before fleeing.

07/23/2019

A great opportunity to involve youth in Sacramento civic affairs.

The City of Sacramento Youth Commission is currently accepting applications to fill several vacant commission seats. The Sacramento Youth Commission is a legislative body that advises on matters th…