Leading the Way for Sikhs

Having moved to Queens, NY from India in the 1980's, Harjinder Singh Duggal, a Sikh from Punjab, held a variety of jobs while trying to establish himself in New York City. After working for six months as a "gypsy cab" driver, Duggal eventually came to own a newspaper stand business and began providing translation services for the court system and the private sector. Through these endeavors, Duggal became politically active along the way.

As early as 1993, Duggal served his neighbors as the first Asian member of Community Boards 7 and 9 and began to lobby for South Asians, taxi drivers, and the disabled throughout the 1990s. This lobbying provided Duggal the opportunity to meet with many public officials, including former New York City mayors Dinkins and Giuliani and President Clinton, to discuss issues facing Sikhs and other South Asians.

After the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, Sikhs faced increased discrimination and prejudice in part because of their physical similarities to Muslim terrorists who wear turbans and grow their beards. Despite the fact that there are roughly 55,000 Sikhs in New York City and Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, many New Yorkers remain ignorant about Sikhism. Duggal took the initiative to educate his community and others about his culture and his faith. Having been active in his community of Richmond Hill for many years, he decided to run for City Council in 2001. After John Liu announced his candidacy for the same seat, Duggal dropped out of the race to avoid splitting the Asian vote.

In 2006, he decided run for District Leader of Assembly District 25 in Queens. As a political outsider, he was nervous about his odds. Meanwhile, he learned that Grassroots Initiative and the Sikh Coalition had launched an effort to recruit and elect the first group of Sikhs in New York. Along with four other Sikhs, he decided to also run for Democratic County Committee Member in his neighborhood of Richmond Hill.

In both races, Duggal faced opposition from either an opponent or the New York City Board of Elections, both of which were seeking to remove his name from the ballot. After being kicked off the ticket for the District Leader seat, Duggal, with the help of Grassroots Initiative, challenged the New York City Board of Elections in the New York State Supreme Court and won both his case - and subsequently, a seat on the Democratic County Committee. On September 12, 2006, he became one of a group of the first-ever elected Sikhs in New York.

Duggal plans to use his post as Committee Member to address the issues that Sikhs are facing in New York City. He also hopes that his experience will make the process easier for more Sikhs to become involved as well. Duggal sees the United States as the "most incredible country in the whole world" because, as he puts it: "You dream it. You do it in America. Doesn't matter who you are."

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