Professor Sukhmander Singh - Sikh Candidate for Congress

For Professor Singh's website please visit http://www.singh2002.com

By JIM MILLER
BEE CAPITOL BUREAU

SACRAMENTO -- Not every candidate for Congress has a campaign Web site that includes a primer on turbans, beards and the history of the Sikh religion.

But then not every candidate is Sukhmander Singh, running for office in a Sept. 12 world.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Sikhs such as Singh have been taunted, threatened and even killed because of their Middle Eastern appearance. Their turbans and beards -- symbols of their faith -- have been lightning rods for abuse because of perceived similarity to the dress of Osama bin Laden and his Taliban followers.

While activists say discrimination has dropped significantly in recent weeks, it is still an uneasy time to be a Sikh in America. Some continue to keep low profiles.

Singh, though, is enmeshed in the most public of pursuits -- running for office. The engineering professor is vying for the Democratic nomination for the congressional seat now held by Gary Condit. Condit and four other Democrats also are on the March 5 primary ballot.

Singh and others believe he is the only Sikh seeking national office. In recent weeks he has raised thousands of dollars, sent out campaign mail, lined up support and plotted strategy with advisers.

Yet last month, while waiting to make a turn in Modesto on his way to a campaign rally, a stranger pulled alongside Singh's car and made an obscene gesture.

"I laughed at it and pointed to the (American) flags on the front and back of the car," said Singh, who on a recent day wore an American flag on his lapel. "I see them and I know it's not their real self. They're acting out of ignorance, out of fear."

Singh, a 62-year-old native of India, shares every politician's heartfelt belief that he or she is the best person for the job. But he said his candidacy, because of last year's attacks, has taken on a purpose beyond getting the most votes.

"Sept. 11, the backlash on Sikhs, the hate crimes against Sikhs, has disturbed us," said Singh in his rapid-fire, strongly accented voice. "Out of this disturbance, we are vigorously and strongly searching for a solution.

"With my victory as a congressman, I can prove that there's no such thing as discrimination in America," he said. "Not only to people outside the U.S., but to people inside America, too, who are ignorant."

Madeep Dhillon, a Bay Area attorney and Sikh activist, has known Singh and his family for years. He said Singh should be seen as a political candidate first.

"He just happens to be Sikh," Dhillon said. "You can't escape the ethnic identity. But Sikhs have always proven themselves to be leaders."

An estimated 500,000 people of Sikh heritage live in the United States. They began arriving from South Asia more than a century ago.

Many settled in the Central Valley; the country's first Sikh templed in Stockton in 1915. Today, valley Sikhs are prominent in agriculture, trucking and other fields.

Singh moved to the United States in 1968 to attend graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley. He later grew grapes in Kerman, west of Fresno.

Today he is a professor at Santa Clara University. His office walls are covered with certificates, letters and other mementos of various engineering projects on which he has worked, such as the Alaskan pipeline.

Politics -- Sikh and Democratic -- caught Singh's interest in the 1970s. He is a past president of the Sikh Council of North America and the Sikh Akali ("timelessness") Party. And he has been involved in Democratic campaigns since supporting Jimmy Carter for president.

His own foray into national politics came after talking with friends and supporters last summer, as Condit's re-election fortunes dimmed. "They said, 'Sukhi, you want to do something. The most realistic opportunity is the 18th (Congressional District).'"

Singh's candidacy has found support. Last month's rally at the American Legion Hall in Modesto, for example, drew nearly 200 people, many of them Sikhs.

"He's a very good person, an honest person," said Davinder Singh Rania, a Modesto Sikh leader.

Singh said he wants to reach voters beyond the Sikh community. His platform includes bringing high-tech jobs to the valley and improving education in the region.

He has mailed two campaign pieces so far, with another to go out soon. It will be different -- instead of only text and patriotic graphics, there will for the first time be a picture of Singh, wearing an eggshell-blue turban.

"We wanted people to first know who I am. They'll say, 'That's OK, his message is good. I'm not going to throw it away,'" Singh said.

Other than last month's gesture in Modesto and angry words from a stranger on a Bay Area highway -- "I really couldn't figure out what he was saying" -- Singh said he has faced few problems since Sept. 11. He has been active in the Sikh community's efforts to educate the public and wrote to CBS after the network showed footage of Sikhs and said they were Muslims.

Singh's campaign faces hurdles, not the least of which is that he lives in Fremont, more than 50 miles from Modesto and well outside the 18th District.