09/22/2001

By JEFFREY WEISS / The Dallas Morning News

Balbir Singh Sodhi was killed apparently because of his turban and his faith. He was a Sikh. News reports say that the Arizona man was murdered last week by an attacker who associated him with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Sodhi's death was only one of the most violent entries on a list of people who have been attacked because someone decided they looked or sounded like a "terrorist." The list includes members of faith groups with distinctive garb.

Many Sikhs wear turbans and long beards, for instance. So does Osama bin Laden, but they have no connection to him. Some Muslim women are easily identified because they wear the long scarves called hijab. But most Muslims have condemned the Sept. 11 attacks.

Others have been attacked because of the color of their skin or their accent. Last week, a Hindu man from Pakistan told Richardson police that he was beaten up by men who called him an Arab.

Some Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists believe their faith calls upon them to dress in ways different from most Americans. And many followers of those faiths in America still carry the accents of their home countries – accents that also set them apart. Those differences have turned them into targets for people who assume they are connected to Osama bin Laden.

But those mainstream faith traditions are far different from the beliefs held by Mr. bin Laden and his followers. Here are brief explanations of those mainstream faith traditions.