DASTAAR: DEFENDING SIKH IDENTITY presents the struggle of the
Sikh American community against discrimination and violence
caused by ignorance of an essential symbol of the Sikh faith --
the dastaar , or turban. The documentary begins by observing the
simple, quiet act of putting on the dastaar , a daily ritual
imbued with the Sikh values of honor, discipline and faith. The
solemnity of this ritual contrasts with recent incidents of
violence and discrimination against Sikhs due to the wearing of
the dastaar, which all Sikh men are required to wear at all
times in public. Such incidents include the vicious attack on
Gurcharan Singh and Rajinder Singh Khalsa by five men after
being accused of being terrorists, two NYPD officers who left
the force after refusing the order to remove their dastaars
while on duty, and a subway operator who wore his dastaar for 20
years until being recently ordered to remove his dastaar . Even
though Sikhs have no relationship with the terrorist networks of
the Middle East, they are