Sikhs to organise diversity festival in California

  New York, Sep 11
The Punjabi-American Cultural Association (PACA) in Fairfield, California is set to host its annual "Diversity Festival" on September 12 -- a day after the US commemorates the September 11 terrorist attacks, a media report said.

The PACA, which was established after the events of 9/11, said the festival aims at bringing different communities together and to spread awareness of the Sikh faith, US-based Daily Republic newspaper reported on Friday.

"The Sikhs have suffered due to mistaken identity after the tragic events of 9/11," Gurpreet Dhugga of the PACA was quoted as saying.

The annual event will be organised at the Fairfield Centre for Creative Arts.

Surjit Patar, an Indian Punjabi-language writer and poet is scheduled to be the special guest at the event.

Apart from Punjabi singer Babbu Gurpal, performances from Filipino and traditional Punjabi dancers will entertain the crowd.

A documentary on the role of Sikhs in World Wars I and II will also be shown, the report in the daily said.

"The Sikh community has grown from a few hundred in 2000 to about 7,000 in Solano county, California," Dhugga said, adding, "Diversity makes our country unique, vibrant and the greatest in the world."