Tuesday, September 19 2006 10:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The United States is more secure today(Sept 19,2006) because law enforcement authorities and America's Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian communities are working more closely together, according to a senior government official.

"We sincerely hope and expect that those relationships will deepen and strengthen as the years progress," said Daniel W. Sutherland, officer for civil rights and civil liberties at the department of Homeland Security, at a panel discussion here.

Addressing the panel on security enhancement through community, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Wan Kim called the Sep 11, 2001, attacks in the US "a seminal event in the nation's history" and deplored post-9/11 hate crimes against Arab and Sikh Americans.

Among the most effective tools to counter such incidents are outreach programmes to the Arab and South Asian American community leaders, he said, adding that cooperation with federal, state and local law enforcement officials has enhanced protection of civil rights in their communities and brought criminals to justice.

Kim cited the examples of James Herrick, who attempted to burn down a Pakistani restaurant in Salt Lake City; Frank Roque, who gunned down Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, in a Mesa, Arizona, service station; and an Iowa Marriot hotel that, under false pretences, cancelled an agreement to host an American Syrian and Lebanese group's annual convention.

Kim said there was redress in each case: Herrick was sentenced to five years in prison; Roque was sentenced to death; and the Marriot apologised, paid $100,000 in compensation and instituted training for its employees in cultural sensitivity.

Cases of harassment of Muslim students have been investigated. "In New York, currently we are litigating a case involving the right of Muslim and Sikh bus and subway drivers to wear their religious headgear," he said.

New training on cultural issues has been incorporated at the FBI, according to FBI unit chief Brett Hovington. "We are fighting in a totally different environment these days, and the war on terrorism is not going to be won, necessarily, with knocking down doors, but based on building relationships," he said.

Manjit Singh, head of the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund, described the ongoing problems that American Sikhs have experienced, and how Sikh organisations have worked with US security agencies to define culturally sensitive guidelines for airport screening. "One can't have security without making everyone secure," he said. "We can't be discriminatory and say security applies to some and not to others."

"There has been a collective decision at the level of the Muslim communities of America to become a part of the solution in the post 9/11 conflict as opposed to a part of the problem," said Ahmed Younis, national director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

"We do not subscribe to the proposition that there is a clash of civilisations, we as Muslims subscribe to the proposition that there is a clash of the uncivilised," Younis said.

To a question about why American Muslims are not drawn to extremism as readily as their European counterparts, Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center said, "American Muslims are unique. They are very integrated with the community."