Desi Talk - page 14

14
May 6, 2016
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
– that’s all you need to know
Bya StaffWriter
n a bizarre incident
alleged by the community
as a hate crime, a 26-year-
old man, who was high on
drugs, ran into the
Jamaica Muslim Center April 19
and punched two people who
had assembled at the mosque
for afternoon prayer, sending
one of the elderly victims to hos-
pital.
Akhter Hussain, secretary of
JMC, said that the man ran into
the mosque screaming ‘Allah
Allah’ and claimed he is ‘a
prophet’ and started walking
between aisles while everybody
was standing up during mid
prayer.
After a while the man identi-
fied by police as Michael Voyard,
started asking people to give
him a Quran but no one
responded since everyone was
busy praying at that time. When
the Imam of the mosque went
to do Ruku (bowing down) and
congregants followed him,
Voyard started beating a 69-
year-old man, identified as
SalemYafai, in his head and
knocked him unconscious, lead-
ing to the breakup of the prayer.
Another younger also suffered
minor injuries.
When police arrived at the
scene following a 911 call,
Voyard took off his clothes and
ran away, but was eventually
caught by police. He was
charged with assault and crimi-
nal mischief.
Daily News quoted a police
source as saying that Voyard
admitted that he was high on
synthetic marijuana, known as
K2, and cocaine.
The Queens district attorney
did not consider the attack by
Voyard as a bias crime and was
released on bail, according to
news reports.
But NewYork makers like
Assemblyman DavidWeprin did
not rule out the possibility of its
being a hate crime.
“I am angered and disap-
pointed each time I hear about
an incident like the one that
took place at the Jamaica
Muslim Center on Tuesday.
Violent attacks at places of wor-
ship cannot be taken lightly, and
I’d like to join the Jamaica
Muslim Center and Council
member Rory Lancman in call-
ing for the NYPD to investigate a
possible bias motive for this
crime”Weprin said in a state-
ment. “A hate crime against one
of us is a hate crime against all
of us, an assault on our inclusive
NewYork values, and a threat to
our identity as Americans,” he
said.
I
Two Injured In Assault By Man Inside Jamaica MuslimCenter
FromNews Dispatches
A
njali Ramkissoon, 30, a
fourth-year resident
doctor with Jackson
Health System in Miami who
made newspaper headlines
earlier this year by hitting an
Uber cab driver and scream-
ing profanities at him because
he refused to give her a ride,
made news again last week,
albeit for a different reason.
The video of Ramkissoon
showing her in a drunken
state and hurling abuses at
the driver was shot in Miami’s
Brickell area at the time of the
incident in January this year
and posted on YouTube has
been viewed more than 6.8
million times, and she has
been widely
decried for her
behavior. The
brain surgeon
was earlier
placed on admin-
istrative leave
and “removed
from all clinical
duties” soon after
the video showing her bratty
behavior went public.
But last week authorities
decided to fire Ramkissoon
from her job at the hospital.
The NewYork Post said
April 23 quoting Miami
Herald that Jackson Health
System officials released a
statement saying that fourth-
year resident Ramkissoon has
been given termina-
tion papers. The
hospital, however,
said that she has a
right to appeal her
termination.
Soon after the
January incident,
Ramkissoon in tele-
vision interviews
said she regretted her action.
‘There’s absolutely no excuse
for my actions. ‘I’m ashamed.
I’m so sorry. I’ve hurt so many
people,” she said after the
incident.
Obviously, her apology did
not cut much ice with her
employers.
Miami Doctor Whose Drunken
Misbehavior Went Viral Is Fired
FromNews Dispatches
L
ovkesh Kumar, who fea-
tured on America's ‘Most
Wanted’ list after allegedly
killing his wife and mother-in-
law in California and fleeing the
country in 2003, was reported
last week to have hanged him-
self his jail cell in U.K. where he
managed to slip in, in 2004 as
Sarbjit Singh. An inquest is now
being held into his death, the
Daily Mail reported April 26.
The 42-year-old Kumar was
arrested and jailed on drug-
related offenses sometime after
entering U.K. But authorities
came to know of his real identi-
ty after Interpol tipped off the
Scotland Yard about the earlier
murder in the U.S. DNA and
fingerprints taken from the
scene of the 2003 murders in
Clovis, California, were sent to
Scotland Yard and a match was
eventually made with Kumar.
He later confirmed to a police
officer that his real name was
Kumar.
Kumar was arrested by offi-
cers from Scotland Yard's extra-
dition squad following the fresh
charges of mur-
der allegation and
was sent to
Westminster
Magistrates'
Court from
Highpoint Prison
in Newmarket,
Suffolk, in July
2014. Kumar was
then transferred
toWandsworth
jail in south
London.
The report said that his body
was found in his cell on
September 6, 2014, three days
after his first extradition hear-
ing. Another extradition hear-
ing was scheduled to take place
in November that year.
In a statement read to the
inquest, prison officer Tom
Carter said Kumar never gave
the impression he was scared.
“He never gave me the impres-
sion he was scared. He was
calm in response. He never
struck me as a man
who was fright-
ened, I would say,”
Carter was quoted
as saying by the
newspaper.
The Daily Mail
report said Kumar
was also believed
to have used a host
of other different
aliases, including
Said Ali, Rakesh
Kumar, Bobby
Kumar, Bobby Vasudeva and
Malkiat Singh. His father-in-
law, Vijay Narula, had offered a
£10,000 reward for Kumar's
capture in India where he was
thought to have been hiding
before his real identity was
established.
America’s ‘Most Wanted’ Criminal
Committed Suicide in U.K. Jail, Inquest Finds
Salem Yafai, who was injured in the
attack on the Jamaica Muslim Center, being treated in Jamaica Hospital
Bya StaffWriter
S
ikhs in Connecticut
launched a novel
Vaisakhi campaign last
week to spread awareness
about the religion, and the
significance of Vaisakhi by
renting bus shelter locations
in Norwich and New London
counties, where billboards
about Sikhs and Sikhismwere
on display.
The Vaisakhi campaign
coinciding with the NewYear
April 13 was run by Sikh
Sewak Society International,
displaying "Happy Vaisakhi"
message with the picture of
turbaned Sikhs. The bill-
boards featuring army officer
Maj. Kamal Singh Kalsi’s pic-
ture in his camouflage turban
was the main attraction.
Other pictures on display
were those of Sikh Boys with
Patka(cloth Kids use to cover
their head). About 100 signs
were posted to create Sikh
awareness
Swaranjit Singh Khalsa,
member of the society said
that its main goal was to
make fellow Americans feel
comfortable when they see a
turbaned Sikh.
“They should know we are
Sikhs and we have our dis-
tinct identity. They should
know that we are from
Punjab in India and that
Sikhism is not branch of any
other religion,” he said.
"It is very important that
everyone should know that
message of Guru Nanak Dev
was for the whole mankind
and not for one faith, and
Sikhs are followers of Guru
Nanak".
About 100 signs were post-
ed to create Sikh awareness
"Our big Sikh organization
like United Sikhs, SALDEF,
Sikh Collation are doing a
great job in Sikh awareness
but it’s never enough. This is
the duty of each and every
Sikh to help them as well as
to organize activities on their
own to create Sikh
Awareness,’ Khalsa said.
Parminder Pal Singh
Khalsa from Jalandhar,
Punjab also contributed gen-
erously for this cause.
Swaranjit Singh Khalsa
also requested all Gurdwara
Parbandak Committees to
take initiative and participate
in Sikh awareness activities.
The Sikh awareness cam-
paigns have also been recog-
nized at state level by New
York U.S. Congressman Joe
Crowley in Congressional
record this year.
Novel Sikh Awareness
Campaign In Connecticut
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