New Delhi: India on May 22 reacted strongly to the attack on a Sikh immigrant in the US saying it warranted strong legal action. Avtar Chiera, a truck driver in Arizona, was seriously wounded on May 19 when several white men opened fire at him allegedly shouting "Get out of our country".

He was not robbed and nothing was taken from his truck either. Arizona police has said that the 52-year- old was apparently targeted for being a Sikh and that the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime.

India has urged both the American authorities and the Indian-American community to speed up the process of educating people about minorities.

"The Governor of Arizona has condemned the crime and the state authorities are seeking the persons who committed the crime. Our Consulate General and other officers are also in touch with the Indian American community to find ways and means to prevent occurrence of such crimes based on mistaken identity and also to publicise the nature of the minorities and the real facts that these people are from India and should not be subject to mistaken identity.

I think this process of spreading this message and a strong action by the law and order authorities is definitely in order," Foreign Office spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters in New Delhi.

Chiera, a Phoenix resident, wears a turban and untrimmed beard as part of his faith.

This is the second such attack on Sikhs in Arizona post-9/11. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner, in Mesa, had been shot dead a couple of days after 9/11. The alleged killer, Frank Silva Roque, was subsequently arrested and charged, but the trial is still to begin.

Sikhs are often mistaken to be followers of Osama bin Laden there, because of their turbans and beards, which make them resemble Arab Muslims.

ANI