Above: Ravinder in his law office in Hoboken. Below: He explains the turban, after his run-in with the prison authorities.
People
Ravinder Singh Bhalla: True American Crusader
by KAREN ANGEL
President Obama was his inspiration.
It was after Obama was elected the first black President of the United States that Ravinder Singh Bhalla decided Hoboken (New Jersey, U.S.A.) was ready to elect its first Sikh councilman.
"That election made me believe the country has reached a phase where qualifications matter more than race," said Ravinder Singh, 36.
He ran on acting Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer's ticket and was elected councilman at large by a wide margin in June, taking office July 1, 2009. He received the most votes of 11 other candidates - despite the fact that Hoboken's registered voter population is less than 1% Asian and the city is home to only about 10 Sikhs, including his wife, Navneet Kaur, a human rights lawyer, and their 2-year-old daughter, Arza Kaur.
"I think residents are looking for honest, competent and professional individuals in government, and I think that desire supersedes other considerations such as race, religion and gender," Ravinder said.
A native New Jerseyan and a civil rights attorney, he first became involved in local politics in 2005, when he successfully represented two Hoboken council members in a challenge to a lawsuit by then-Mayor David Roberts, who was trying to force the council to pass his budget.
"It gave me a better sense of what the issues were on the local level," Ravinder said. "The city council's refusal to pass what they saw as an underfunded budget and the mayor's attempt to force them to pass a budget they didn't believe in gave me an intimate look into the intersection of law and politics at the local level."
Ravinder has also fought to enforce the rights of Sikh-Americans. He won a battle to have a Sikh NYPD traffic officer reinstated after he was fired in 2001 for refusing to remove his turban and trim his beard, both forbidden by the Sikh religion.
That case helped pave the way for the Army's first acceptance of a turbaned Sikh recruit in 23 years, announced recently.
In 2002, Ravinder spurred a federal prison policy change after filing a complaint because guards had ordered him to remove his turban for a search while he was visiting a client at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
Now, visitors to those facilities can't be required to remove head coverings worn for religious purposes "without probable cause," he said.
Ravinder credits his father, Ranbir Singh, an inventor with a Ph.D. in physics from Penn State University who "came to the U.S. with less than $50 in his pocket," with helping instill in him the importance of not compromising his religion to fit in.
In West Paterson's public schools, Ravinder Singh's turban made him a frequent target of bullies, but he still played Little League and tennis, earning an all-state ranking in high school. "I saw it as an equalizer," the avid Yankee fan said. "I really felt like on the playing field, if you knew how to pitch or hit, people respected you."
Similarly, he found that after participating in locally televised debates with the other council candidates, he won respect for his performance.
"After the debates, people would come up to me in the streets and say, 'You were the only person out there who made any sense,' " recalled Ravinder Singh Bhalla, who has degrees from the University of California - Berkeley, the London School of Economics and Tulane University.
"The debates helped break a perception barrier between appearance and substance."
　
[Courtesy: New York Daily News]
November 12, 2009
Conversation about this article
1: Manpreet Singh (Fremont, California, U.S.A.), November 12, 2009, 6:38 PM.
We are proud of you, Ravinder Singh. May Waheguru guide you in all your future endeavours. Hope to meet you soon, if and when you hit the Bay Area some day.
2: Gurjender Singh (Maryland, U.S.A.), November 13, 2009, 8:45 AM.
Congratulation to Ravinder Singh. I pray to God that more and more young Sikhs get involved in public life so that we can be recognized easily in the U.S.A. Just keeping Sikh leadership inside the four walls of the gurdwara does not help us at all.
3: Nav Singh (London, U.K.), November 13, 2009, 12:19 PM.
As Obama's been an inspiration to all of us, you too are an encouraging icon to Sikhs wanting to enter politics in the U.S. Well done and keep up the good work.
4: Iqbal Singh Bhan (Canton, MI, U.S.A.), November 13, 2009, 9:43 PM.
Ravinder Beta, we are very proud of you for your acievements. As you know, your Dad and I were room mates and studied together at Penn State University - in State College, Pennsylvania. When your Dad came to Penn State, I was the first Sardar to welcome him to America. I am very proud of your Dad, Mom and your family. My wife Veena and I feel very fortunate and proud to be part of your family. May Waheguru bless you.
5: Gurinder Singh Johal (Amritsar, Punjab), November 16, 2009, 10:06 AM.
Honest. Competent. Professional. Sacho urey sab ko uper sach achaar. "Truth is high, Higher still is Truthful Living". Honesty, competency and professionalism combine to create Sach Achaar. May Guru Nanak bless you.
6: Amitoj Singh (New Jersey, United States), May 03, 2011, 7:46 PM.
Ravi Singh Bhalla is also running for assemblyman in the 33rd district within the State of New Jersey. We should all support his campaign as he stands for human and civil rights. Please give him a contribution at ourhoboken.com. Also write articles on him. Guru Gobind Singh, in his bani, said "Raj binaa na dharam challey hai/ dharam binaa sabh dalley malley hai."