Hindu community in US stress cultural competency training for first responders in view of Alabama incident

Posted on by WHN
Rajan-ZedIn view of the reported Madison (Alabama) incident in which an Indian man in his late 50s taking a walk in broad daylight last week was roughed-up by the police resulting in his partial paralysis, Hindu community in the US have stressed the need of cultural competency training to first responders in Alabama and nationwide.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that in view of increasing diversity of the country, first responders should be adequately trained in cultural appropriateness so that they understood and interpreted more effectively the actions-attitudes-behaviours of linguistically and culturally diverse people.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that many preventable tragedies could be avoided if we as Americans attempted to understand and interpret each other better. Despite our diverse backgrounds, we needed to reduce the communication and cultural barriers amongst us, Zed added.As reported by al.com the victim Sureshbhai Patel, who has come to his son and daughter-in-law just two weeks back, was walking on the sidewalk outside his son’s home when someone called police describing him as a suspicious character.

The police after arriving pushed Patel down on the earth in the name of search and primary interrogation. This sudden use of force left Patel temporarily paralyzed and hospitalized with fused vertebrae. It was also mentioned that Patel, who was not so fluent in English told the police the house number also where he was living with his son, but he was not listened to.

Attorney for the family, Hank Sherrod said that there was nothing suspicious about Patel other than he has brown skin.

The Albama police department had issued a statement on Monday clarifying that Patel was not involved in any criminal act and the officer involved had been suspended, and his use of force was being investigated. The police department also wished Patel a “speedy recovery”. 

Source: merinews.com