Educating the community about Sikh religion

The Sikh Council of Central California held a program today at the Selma temple sharing ideas on how to better educate the community about the Sikh religion.

The California legislature recently passed a resolution declaring November California Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month.

It's estimated about 40,000 Sikhs live in the Central Valley but organizers of Sunday's event says the religion is often misidentified as being related to terrorism.

"It's quite unfortunate that right after 9/11, Bin Laden and his associates had turbans and flowing beards. They almost looked like Sikhs and in fact are different people. The Sikhs are against any terrorism," Ranjit Singh Rajpal, M.D. said.

Members say raising awareness of the Sikh culture is especially important among children because children are often teased and bullied in schools.