Sikh elected to City Council in California

Harpreet Singh Sandhu from Richmond, California was elected to the City Council. This is the first time in the city that an Asian has been on the council let alone a Sikh.

Richmond, California (KP) – An Amritdhari Singh has been appointed as council member of a large Northern California city last week. Bhai Harpreet Singh Sandu, a well known Sikh activist who has served as president of El Sobrante Gurdwara Sahib’s management committee for many years, was sworn in as a council member in the presence of Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, members of the California Sikh community and city officials gathered at City Hall in Richmond, California.

During the swearing-in ceremony Harpreet Singh said, “I will work not only for the development of the city but also for the country”. He ended his speech with the Sikh daily prayer “Nanak Naam Chardikala Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhalla”, explaining its meaning: “For the Good of All”

Harpreet Singh is the first Asian to ever serve on the council; local Sikh community members praised Singh as an outstanding member of their local community.

According to a Northern California newspaper, Contra Costa Times, Harpreet Singh is best known in the community as a strong advocate for creating safer working conditions for West County taxi drivers. The time stated that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, taxi drivers in West County, most of them being Sikhs, increasingly became victims of attacks. One driver was killed in 2003, and one was shot in the face in what appeared to be hate crimes, Singh said.

“Harpreet has served the Sikh community in very important ways,” said Jaideep Singh, co-founder and managing director of the Sikh American Legal and Defense Fund based in Washington, D.C. while talking to Contra Costa Times. “He has been a liaison between Sikh immigrants and government agencies, and he has been a particularly strong advocate for Sikh taxi drivers who have been the frequent victims of robbery and homicide.”

Source – Panthic Weekly

Now the best thing out of all this was when he was sworn in, gotta give him props for bringing along a Nihang Singh and being sworn in on Gurbani instead of the bible.