JALANDHAR: Sikhs were the 2nd most targeted religious group after Jews in hate-motivated criminal activities in the US in 2021, an FBI report said just recently, while Hindus and Muslims comprised 1% and 9.5% of the 1,005 offences tape-recorded that year.There were 214 (21.3%) dislike criminal activities against Sikhs and 10 against Hindus, according to FBIs yearly data.

Anti-Semitic crimes were the highest at 31.9%, while the count for Catholics was 6.1%.

Amongst the criminal offenses was the shooting by a previous employee at a FedEx center in Indianapolis on April 16, 2021.

Eight people were shot, including four Sikhs operating in the warehouse.Sikhs who first started arriving in the United States in the late 1800s are a little religious minority.

American Sikhs have in the past been targeted in racist attacks, which intensified after the 9/11 terrorist strike in 2001.

Entrepreneur Balbir Singh Sodhi was eliminated at his Arizona gas station 4 days after the September 11 attacks by a guy who declared he was going to head out and shoot some towel-heads and misinterpreted him for an Arab Muslim.On August 5, 2012, a white supremacist shot six Sikhs and hurt four at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

This was the most significant attack against the community in America, triggering calls to have safety plans in place in about 300 gurdwaras across the country and to raise awareness and understanding about their religion.FBI hadnt tracked hate criminal offenses particularly against Sikhs until 2015, according to a report, and many local law enforcement agencies fail to tape bias attacks comprehensively.

The FBI information for 2021, when the United States was ravaged by the pandemic like much of the world, shows 64.8% of hate criminal offense victims were targeted for their race, ethnic culture, and ancestry.

Criminal Activities against African Americans topped at 63.2% in 2021, while 4.3% anti-Asian offences were reported.