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Law enforcement wont tolerate hate crimes
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Leaders in Manteca, Modesto and Ceres met with Sikh community members to discuss hate crimes. - photo by Photo Contributed

Manteca civic leaders participated in a dinner meeting regarding the safety of Indian community in Modesto in the wake of violence targeting the Sikh community elsewhere in the Central Valley.

The gathering was organized by real estate and small business advisor Nirvail Singh.

The Indian community participants discussed misunderstandings of the Sikhs and other religions in terms of their identity.

Among police and city leaders attending were Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden, Ceres Police Chief Art de Werk, Mayor Willie Weatherford Mayor of Manteca, Ceres Mayor Chris Vierra, former Manteca Police Chief Charlie Halford, Modesto council member Guillermo Ochoa, and attorney William E.Mussman.

“If there are any unknown or suspicious activities that are happening, they should inform the police as soon as possible so that the police are prepared to take actions and help the people,” Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden told the gathering.

Nirvail Singh has mentioned about the fear the Indian community has - especially the Sikh community - after incidents of hate crimes in the Sacramento area. The officials assured those in attendance that they will not tolerate any hate activity in their communities.

There were many Indian community members present at the meeting including Jarnail Singh and Sucha Singh (Lathrop), Harpreet Singh, Balwant Singh Sandhu, Karanbir Singh, Ajit Singh Sandhu, Manjit Singh, Jaspal Singh, Pardeep Singh, Navjot Singh Kanda, Akashdeep Singh, Baldev Singh, Amar Singh, Seetal Singh, and Mohinder Singh Kanda.

The consensus of the group was that the Indian community should not be scared to report any crimes as police “are willing to go to any level to help decrease hate crimes (against) Sikh people.”