In a first, the New York Police Department (NYPD) recently inducted a Sikh turbaned female police officer. Gursoach Kaur, who graduated last week from the New York City Police Academy, will join the law enforcement force as an Auxiliary Police Officer (APO). The news was shared on social media by the Sikh Officers Association and soon the move garnered a lot of attention and praise for the young recruit. Reacting to this, Minister of State (MoS) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, congratuled Kaur. Sharing the news on Twitter, Puri wrote, "Delighted to see a turbaned lady officer in NYPD. Hope this fosters better understanding of Sikhism & Sikhs & corrects perceptions in US so that incident which happened with me in 2010 & recently with @Canada minister @NavdeepSBains do not recur. Sikhs are ambassadors of harmony." In 2010, when he was an ambassador to the UN, security officers at the Houston Airport had asked him to remove his turban, something that hurts religious sentiments. Canadian Minister Navdeep Bains was also asked to remove his turban at Detroit Metro Airport on his way back to Canada in 2017. Delighted to see a turbaned lady officer in NYPD. Hope this fosters better understanding of Sikhism & Sikhs & corrects perceptions in US so that incident which happened with me in 2010 & recently with @Canada minister @NavdeepSBains do not recur. Sikhs are ambassadors of harmony — Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 19, 2018 In 2016, NYPD for the first time relaxed its uniform policy to promote inclusiveness and allowed its Sikh officers to wear turbans and maintain beards. The move was done to promote and encourage the minority community members to join the force and certainly Kaur's recruitment would give it a positive push. The happy news set Sikhs around the world talking and #GursoachKaur trending. Here's how Tweeple reacted. Reminded me of the turbaned officer I saw in NYC when I was last there. I wanted to go up & say hi but he was in the middle of the road & more importantly would have wondered who the idiot was interfering in his work :) pic.twitter.com/k3DdLyDDAd — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 19, 2018 New York’s Police Dept. gets its first Turbaned Sikh female Auxiliary Police Officer. APO Gursoach Kaur’s graduation to the @NYPDnews is a great achievement for Sikhs in law enforcement and Sikh Officers Association! We are proud of you. Stay safe! @SikhOfficers pic.twitter.com/1CcDV7aRYf — Harjinder Singh Kukreja (@SinghLions) May 19, 2018 Blessing to Gursoach Kaur APO, who joined NYPD. Not only an officer of NYPD she also has joined as a Reliable Constable of Sikhism. See u growing, congrats — AJITPALS KOCHAR (@KocharAjitpals) May 20, 2018 What a moment! This is a perfect example of “when the going gets tough, the tough get going!” Proud of you #gursoachkaur @PTC_Network check this out! 😃 #MondayMotivaton #BeingAmrita #ChefAndBeyond pic.twitter.com/R1XTphwAI3 — Amrita Raichand (@amritaraichand) May 21, 2018 Proud moment for sikhs but also reflects the inclusive culture of NYPD. Corporates ‘ have much to learn from this Govt entity — Dilpreet Singh (@DPDilpreet) May 20, 2018 You are a proud daughter of our 10 Guru's. Inclusivity and fairness for all. God bless you and all other brave Sikh officers serving in the police and other armed forces. @SikhOfficers @SikhCouncilUK @Sikh2Inspire — The $onicator (@hs0931) May 16, 2018 Congrats brothers & sister for making our small community proud..We all believe you'll respect the law of the land that you are serving..and set benchmarks for others to follow .. All The Best. — Indi Singh (@indianspry) May 20, 2018 What do you think of this move? Share your thoughts in comments below.
