DEATH SENTENCE FOR SODHI’S KILLER: Frank Roque, 44, of Phoenix, Ariz., PHOTO 2, was sentenced to death on Oct. 9 for murdering Balbir Singh Sodhi, PHOTO 1, outside his gasoline station in an alleged hate crime just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Roque faces death for gunning down Sodhi who wore a turban and a beard and apparently was mistaken for an Arab. Prosecutors argued that Sodhi’s murder on Sept. 15, 2001, was fueled by racism and carried out by a man with a long-time drinking problem. Defense attorneys argued that Roque was mentally-ill and pushed over the edge by the attacks. The shooting prompted India to call on the U.S. government to take steps to prevent assaults on Sikhs.

CHIERA SHOT AT IN POSSIBLE HATE CRIME: Avtar Singh Chiera, 52, a long-distance truck driver in Phoenix, Ariz., was shot in his abdomen and thigh on May 19 in what is believed to be an apparent case of bias-crime, Detective Tony Morales, public information officer for Phoenix Police Department, told News India-Times. “At around 9:30 p.m., Avtar Chiera had just parked his truck in Central North Phoenix and was waiting to be picked up to go home. At that time two individuals, whom we believe were Caucasians riding in a small red pick-up truck, shouted some racial slurs at the victim — like ‘go back to your country where you belong,’” he said.

MEETING TO DISCUSS QUEENS ATTACK: Three men attacked a family of Indian immigrants outside the family’s Queens home on Aug. 2, the police said. The victims --- a married couple and Lakhvir Singh Gill, 32, their cousin --- were returning home in the evening evening from an afternoon spent house-hunting on Long Island. They were punched, spat on and told “bin Laden family, go back to your country.” In photo 9, New York State Senator John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights, Queens) and representatives of immigrant rights, social justice and civil liberties organizations met in Jackson Heights on Aug. 5 to condemn the attack, which police said could have been motivated by bias. (File photo: Mohammed Jaffer/Snaps India)

SEEKING SUPPORT: From left, Anum, Iqra and Nida, daughters of Waqar Hasan, 46, who was shot to death by an American allegedly taking revenge for 9/11. The National Council of Pakistani Americans sent out an action alert asking people to contact members of Congress in a bid to help the family of Hasan who was shot and killed four days after 9/11 when Anthony Stroman, a young man, walked into his convenience store in Dallas, Tex., on Sept. 15, 2001, ordered two ham-burgers and shot Hasan in the face.

ATTACK ON ST. LOUIS HINDU TEMPLE: The Hindu Temple of St. Louis in Missouri was attacked twice in less than a week, on Feb. 23 and March 1, with Molotov cocktail bombs, charring a section of the door and damaging a window and the carpeting inside. According to Krishna Reddy, president of the temple’s board of trustees, around 300 people were scheduled to attend day-long Maha Shivratri prayers on the morning of March 1, just a few hours after the second firebomb was hurled at the temple. According to Mason Keller, spokesman for the County Police Department, in the first incident, a bottle of beer or wine containing accelerants with a wick on top was set alight and thrown at the front door of the temple at 725 Weidman Road in West St. Louis County on Feb. 23.

MTV’S APOLOGY: MTV on Jan. 31 apologized for offending Indians with an animated sitcom character named “Gandhi,” supposedly a clone of the slain independence leader. The apology came after protests in India over the character on the MTV show ‘Clone High, USA.’



OUTRAGE OVER MAXIM ARTICLE ON GANDHI: An article in Maxim magazine’s February issue, titled, ‘Maxim’s kick-ass workout,’ describing how to use beating as a fitness regime with Mahatma Gandhi as the object of the beating, outraged the Indian-American community. Thousands of angry e-mails were apparently sent to the Maxim magazine’s mail box. A strongly worded statement, sent out by Ambassador Lalit Mansingh, expressed displeasure at the “bad taste” in which the article portrayed Gandhi.


ARIZONA TEMPLE IS DEFACED WITH GRAFFITI: Bhakti Vedanta Cultural Center in Chandler, Ariz., was defaced with graffiti on Aug. 13, for the second time in less than 15 days, in what police suspect could be a hate crime targeted at the temple. “On Wednesday (Aug. 13), we noticed that for the second time in less than 15 days, the walls of our temple were painted with graffiti such as ‘KKK,’ ‘Satan,’ and some foul language,” Bhaktaraj Swami, the temple priest, said.

ACCUSED PLEADS NOT GUILTY: Lousa Mataele, 31, who is accused of fatally shooting Davinder Singh, a cabdriver in Red Wood City in California, pleaded not guilty to the charges before the San Mateo County Court on Nov. 5. Mataele was to return to the court on Dec. 17, which has been set as the date for preliminary hearing to determine if he will stand trial. Davinder was fatally shot in the head on Sept. 13 in what his colleagues described as an apparent hate crime.