you know, i had grown up sikh, and i was looking for freedom. there was no doubt about that when i went to college-- i was looking for freedom. and the first thing i did was cut my hair. >> hinojosa: i was going to say, the first thing you did was cut your hair. and it was... >> it was not good. i think... you know, my mom didn't talk to me for quite some time after that. >> hinojosa: how much time? >> i don't even remember, so... i try to block such things out of my memory bank. but... and i've certainly had a number of cousins that were disowned for the same sin. but, you know, so i was doing this study, and i assumed that religion would actually be negative in terms of our well being, that it would actually make us more depressed. because after all, it was taking away your freedom. but i found the opposite. and, you know, what that then, in a sense, led me to start thinking about and researching, was this idea that having some set of rules and guidelines, as long as you can buy into them and believe in them, can actually help create a sense o

but in sharp contrast to that, the pentagon has surrendered to a sikh u.s. army captain who must wear a beard and turbin to serve both god and country. don dahler introduces us. >> reporter: as the sun rises in virginia, officers of the 249th engineer battalion play a friendly game of football frisbee. among them, 28-year-old captain simratpal singh, the first sikh american soldier in 35 years to receive permission to wear his religious turbin and beard while on active duty. >> ever since i was a kid, i have had a fascination with being a soldier. >> reporter: in the 1980s, president reagan passed an executive order calling for all troops to look uniform, which meant no facial hair and no religious headwear. to captain singh, his beard and turbin are sacred articles of his faith, but in 2006 on his first day as a cadet at west point he was forced to shave his beard and remove his turbin, something he had never done perfect. >> i remember one of the hardest things to do was look in the mirror the next day and have that self-image of yourself just shattered co

. >>> the pentagon surrendered to a sikh u.s.sists he must wear a beard and turban to serve both god and country. don dahler has his story. >> as the sunrises over fort belvoir, army base in virginia. officers of the 249th engineer battalion play friendly football frisb frisbee. among them 28-year-old captain, the first sikh american soldier in 35 years, to receive permission to wear his religious turban and beard while on active duty. >> ever since i was a kid i had fascination with being a soldier. in the 80s. president reagan passed executive order calling for all troops to look uniform. which meant no facial hair. no religious head wear the to captain singh his beard and turban are sacred articles of his faith. in 2006 on his first day as cadet at west point he was forced to shave his beard and remove his turban. something he had never done before. >> i remember, one of the hardest things to do was look in the mirror the next day and, have that, have that self-image of yourself just shattered completely. of what a good sikh i

and also the sikhs were overrepresented in the army so there also fairly heavy militarized. so their death squads as it were started after the border was drawn, and that's what it spread very quickly. it was a very concentrated in this area. it was muslims on the indian side of the job were pushed out and hindus and sikhs were pushed out from the other side. a dash of this movement of people, something like 14 million people cross site of the board or the span of a few months, united miles long convoys of refugees, 250,000 people in a convoy essentially defenseless. there were some soldier trying to guard them but these death squads would come swooping and able to massacred several hundred thousand people at a time. but it was the combination of communities in the punjab with a new border that provoked of them. >> that's so interesting. by the way i wanted to commend you and your dad probably for still calling it bombay. a lot of us has ever grown used to bombay. but i was going to say, so this hindu-muslim issue came to prominence along the border areas. but it didn't sprea

on board were 376 passengers of sikh, muslim, and hindu origin. those passengers chose canada. when they arrived here, they were rejected. -- a century ago, canadian prime minister justin trudeau apologizes for canada's history of discriminating against south asians in what is known as the komagata maru incident. a century ago, the premier of this a white man's country." we will speak to filmmaker ali kazimi. then we look at the recent 15 day occupation of a canadian office overseeing indigenous affairs office here in toronto. comes together to tell you, in your face, you have got to respect this. we're humans. every single one of us are humans. private property on stolen land. amy: it was led by black lives members -- black lives matter members in toronto. addressing youth suicides and first nation committed these. we will look at how the movements are working together here in canada. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from toronto, canada. s

they were pushed out in hindus and sikhs are pushed out from the other side. as you have this movement of people, 14 million people across sides of the border for the span of a few, you know come you had these miles long convoys of refugees. 250,000 people essentially defenseless. there were some soldiers trained to guard them, but they would come swoop in and were able to master several hundred thousand people at a time. but it is the combination of communities with the new border to provoke. >> that is so interesting. by the way, i could wanted to commend you and your dad first though calling it palm bay. but i was going to say, so this hindu muslim issue came to prominence along the border areas, but it didn't spread to the rest of the country. does that tell us anything about how deeply embedded in religion this was or whether it was a local fact having to do more with territory and advantage in revenge? >> i think that is spread. it is easy to think of this as a muslim hindu conflict. you have to remember, the leaders of india and pakistan were completely

army granted its first long-term religious accommodationings to an active duty observant sikh who asked to grow a beard and wear a turban. he is a decorated soldier who put his life on the line in afghanistan. even the secretary of defense is on record supporting the trend. the school still hopes the student comes for classes in the fall. the family is exploring their legal options. steve osunsami, abc news, charleston. >> okay. so the spokesperson for the council of american islamic cannot attend the citadel without this accommodation because it's part of her religious obligation. >> right but then "the washington post" is pointing out the citadel has never made objections before. catholic students have been told they can't wear a sign of the crucifix. big debate going on over where you draw the line and how make exceptions for. >> the school has been controversial over decades. it was awhile ago that they accepted their first female student about two decades ago. >> '95, right in the that involved some legal trouble. they say they've come a long way and that women are much more integr

on board were 376 passengers of sikh

amy: an indian man who follows the sikh religion says he was pulled off a bus and detained for 30 hours for speaking punjabi with another passenger. daljeet singh was traveling on a greyhound bus from arizona to indiana when a fellow passenger falsely accused the two men of speaking arabic and discussing a bomb threat. fellow passengers detained the men in amarillo, texas until police arrived and arrested them at gunpoint. the police also removed singh's religious turban and circulated mugshots of him without the turban to local media. singh and the sikh coalition have demanded criminal charges against the passengers who accused and restrained him. meanwhile in california, a group of women say they were kicked out of a cafe in laguna beach last month for being muslim and wearing hijabs. sara farsakh said she and her friends were told to leave the restaurant within 10 minutes while their desserts and coffee were still on the table. a worker said the restaurant needed to clear tables for other clients, but farsakh said there were numerous empty tables, and other customers were not asked t

the warriors would trim a 19-point deficit down to sikh. a sweet reverse and okc is in control in the fourth. he stepped into a three. 26 points. the lead is back up to 12. curry, i don't know what happened to him. he had one of the worst games of his life. six of 20 shooting. 0 for 5 on wide open points. it leads to daggers like that. 36 points and 11 assists and 11 boards. 118-94 and okc the final is three games to one. warriors on the verge of elimination heading into game five thursday night at oracle. >> at the end of the day i know i have to be better. it is all or nothing. i wouldn't be able to live with myself all summer. >> obviously he has been off. lucky for us it is the first of four and things are looking pretty grim right now. at the end of the day we are going home and we know what we have to do. >> the momentum can swing it either way and the last few games it has gotten away from us. a lot of that falls on my shoulders. >> baseball tonight giants and padres and check out the grb by that -- check out the grab by that guy. an

on board were 376 passengers of sikh

the move was widely acknowledged to be aimed at keeping sikhs out of canada. then premier of british columbia sir richard mcbride said at the time "we always have in mind the necessity of keeping this a white man's country." on wednesday, more than 100 years after the boat was turned away, prime minister justin trudeau finally apologized. >> no words can erase pain, suffering that they experienced. regrettably, the passage of time means that none are alive to hear our apology today. still, we offer it fully and sincerely. for our indifference to her plight, for our failure to recognize all that you had to offer, for the laws that discriminated against you so senselessly, and for not -- for all ofoner these things, we are truly sorry. we willorrow, friday, be broadcasting from the canadian broadcasting corporation studios in toronto, canada. kentucky has elected the first african american to the state legislature in 20 years. on tuesday, attica scott won the democratic primary for state representative of the 41st district. she has no republican challenger for t

the warriors would trim a 19-point deficit down to sikh. a sweet reverse and okc is in control in the fourth. he stepped into a three. 26 points. the lead is back up to 12. curry, i don't know what happened to him. he had one of the worst games of his life. six of 20 shooting. 0 for 5 on wide open points. it leads to daggers like that. 36 points and 11 assists and 11 boards. 118-94 and okc the final is three games to one. warriors on the verge of elimination heading into game five thursday night at oracle. >> at the end of the day i know i have to be better. it is all or nothing. i wouldn't be able to live with myself all summer. >> obviously he has been off. lucky for us it is the first of four and things are looking pretty grim right now. at the end of the day we are going home and we know what we have to do. >> the momentum can swing it either way and the last few games it has gotten away from us. a lot of that falls on my shoulders. >> baseball tonight giants and padres and check out the grb by that -- check out the grab by that guy. an

that is when a japanese ship carrying sikh immigrants was denid denied entry into the country.t diamond is said to be the largest and best vivid blue diamond in existence. and legendary video game tetris is being turned into a movie. the producers plan to film in china and feature a chinese cast. they have been working with the tetris company for over a year developing the idea. i'm going send my husband with the kids to see that one. that's not -- not up my alley. >> playing tetris. i just can't imagine the movie. >> two hours of -- no thank you. i hope it is a success. but. nope. >> you know what? wreck it ralph did great so now it's morphs that are basically about video games. >> and angry birds and everything i don't know! down the rabbit hole. >> thank you sue. cisco's conference call is under way. we're listening in. and have investors been dismissing the seriousness of donald trump's presidential campaign at the expense of their own portfolios. our next guest thinks so. now what? how will you keep up with the new demands of today's digital economy? the fact is: some beli

>> meaning that if since the military itself has made accommodations for sikhs and muslim women why is big uproar for a muslim student to go to a military college when the military itself makes accommodations for it? >> sounds like some places made the accommodations and sit del is standing by the 175-year history and saying they're not making an exception. so you are going on to norwich in the fall? is that right? >> yes, i will be attending norwich in the fall. >> and, you know, in this day and age, sana, where there is still clearly a lot of ignorance coming to islam, what is your message to critics? >> i'm sorry. can you repeat the question? >> in this day and age of so much ignorance pertaining to your religion, what would you say to kritdices? what is your message? >> islam is a religion of peace. there is no -- there is nothing besides that. so, all of me trying to attend the citadel and norwich university wearing an hi jab is to be in the military and serve this country. >> best of luck to you. the navy is a special flas. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, thank you. >> tha

and whether they are chinese americans being singled out for economic esponage, or muslim or sikh americans wrongly perceived as terrorists, we know that profiling creates a culture of suspicion that not only breeds mistrust but also endangers the lives and livelihoods of innocent americans. take the recent case of chinese american scientists wrongly targeted as spies for china. one terrible morning professor chi woke up to see guns pointed at him and 12 f.b.i. agents arresting him in front of his wife, two daughters, and the whole neighborhood. they dragged him off to jail and accused him of being a spy for china. threatening him with 80 years in jail. well, it turned out that the f.b.i. agents were wrong so they dropped all charges. but not before ruining the professor's life. we have seen this also happen with a case of sherry chen, a hydrologist at the national weather service of ohio, who was arrested in front of her co-workers and accused of being a spy for china only to have her case dismissed. asian american scientists and engineers who worked hard to get their advanced degrees and