Lance Martin, Herald Senior Staff Writer
ROANOKE RAPIDS— The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund along with several other interfaith organizations are demanding an apology from the Roanoke Rapids Union Mission to a man whose donation was turned down because he declined to remove his turban. The incident happened last month when ‘Gary’ Khera attempted to contribute to the cause of the R.R. Union Mission and was turned away by Executive Director Ron Weeks. The apology request was in the form of a letter e-mailed and faxed to the Union Mission board chairman Jeff Holm’s attention on Friday. When the Daily Herald contacted Holm by phone yesterday to ask if the board had made a decision on the matter, his response was, “We made a board decision to make no comment to you and that’s all I have to say,” Holms then hung up the phone. We were unable to ask any other questions The letter, written by Rajdeep Singh Jolly, legal director of SALDEF, says the organizations are writing to “express grave concern about the expulsion of Mr. Gurnam Singh ‘Gary’ Khera — a Sikh American donor — by (the) Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids because of his religiously-mandated Dastaar (Sikh turban).” The letter is endorsed by SALDEF along with American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, Asian American Justice Center, Hindu American Foundation, Hmong National Development Inc., Japanese American Citizens League, Muslim Public Affairs Council, National Coalition for the Homeless, North American Religious Liberty Association, Organization of Chinese Americans, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, The Sikh Coalition and United Sikhs. Says the letter: “The denial of equal accommodation to Mr. Khera is fundamentally inconsistent with the nobility of your work and sends dismissive signals to Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, and other Americans who wear articles of faith in accordance with their religious beliefs. The repudiation of Mr. Khera’s donation on account of his religion is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, when African-Americans were denied equal access to public accommodations because of their race.” Jolly says in the letter as the holiday season approaches, “interfaith groups must celebrate religious diversity in the common cause of helping the less fortunate. “To this end, we believe it would be appropriate for (the) Union Mission of Roanoke Rapids to restore its goodwill by issuing a public apology to Mr. Khera and amending its policy to allow visitors to wear articles of faith.” Since his donation was refused on Nov. 18, Khera and his wife Gwendolyn have agreed to cook for a party for foster children and adopt two elderly couples for the holidays. http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2008/12/08/news/doc493d4a57853ee529788879.txt Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald