SALDEF Urges Community to Contact White House to Express Disappointment (Washington, DC) October 28, 2010 — At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, the White House confirmed that President Obama will not be visiting Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, on his trip to India. Ben Rhodes, a Deputy National Security Adviser, told reporters simply that India is a “big country” and that “we can never do as many events as we’d like to do.”
President Barack Obama
“This is extremely disappointing for the Sikh American community,” said SALDEF Chairman Manjit Singh. “This was a unique opportunity for President Obama to counter the increasing xenophobia that has pervaded the political discourse across the country over the past several months. The White House needs to take steps to make this up to the Sikh American community.” SALDEF will be participating in a conference call today, Thursday, October 28th at 1:00pm EDT, with the White House, and will express the Sikh community’s displeasure in the manner in which the visit to Harmandir Sahib was handled. “We intend to communicate the Sikh community’s disapproval to the White House regarding the failed visit and our expectation of appropriate steps to remedy this incident,” said SALDEF Associate Executive Director Jasjit Singh. Over the past week, through the efforts of SALDEF, and our colleagues at Sikh Coalition and UNITED SIKHS, thousands of Sikhs like you across the country have sent messages, phone calls and faxes to the White House. We thank you for your action and being vocal on this issue.
We urge you once again to voice your disappointment in the White House’s decision to not visit Harmandir Sahib by:
- Send a message to President Obama – Sign the Petition
- Call the White House Directly – (202) 456-1111
- Spread the word – Although the visit has been cancelled, the President should know that the Sikh community has taken notice.
Recent coverage of the issue: Politico News, Huffington Post, NY Times
