Washington: Over 6,000 hate crimes, including against Hindus and Sikhs, have been reported in the US last year, according to FBI statistics which showed about 5 per cent jump in such incidents from 2015. A majority of them were motivated by anti-Black or African American bias and were anti-Jewish, while a quarter of them were anti-Muslim. In its latest annual figures released yesterday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that in 2016, it registered 12 anti-Hindu hate crimes and seven anti-Sikh hate crimes.
One hate crime offence was recorded against the Buddhist community. While 3.1 per cent of the hate crimes resulted from anti-Asian bias, another 1.3 per cent were classified as anti-Arab bias. There were 6,121 hate crime incidents recorded last year, an almost 5 per cent rise from 2015 and a 10 per cent increase from 2014, the report said.
“No person should have to fear being violently attacked because of who they are, what they believe, of how they worship,” US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said after F0BI data showed a 4.2 per cent increase in hate crime incidents and a 6.3 per cent increase in hate crime offences from 2015 to 2016. However, Sikh Coalition contested the FBI figures arguing that this was being under reported.
