This year’s Bhangra Blowout festivities ended in tragedy, as 20 year-old Ranjit Singh was fatally stabbed outside an afterparty for the event, held at the Old Post Office Pavilion in downtown Washington, D.C. The stabbing occurred around 3 a.m., almost an hour after the sold-out party ended according to police.
According to the story from the Washington Post,
after a fight broke out, a 5-foot-8 man of either Hispanic or Indian ethnicity, wearing a white shirt and braces on his teeth, pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed Ranjit Singh, 20, of Phillipsburg, N.J., police said. Two friends of Singh’s pursued the attacker until they were stabbed by him at 12th and Pennsylvania, police said. The assailant escaped in a green car, and Singh’s two friends were taken to a local hospital.
According to the Post article, and an article in the GW University newspaper the organizers capped party entrance at 1250 people, half the amount from the previous year, and had more security than required by the Old Post Office Pavilion. Partygoers also needed to pass through a metal detector because the pavilion is part of a federal complex. I am not really sure what more the organizers could have done to prevent such a tragedy.
When I was at GW, part of the reason BB was so successful was that fights and other such nonsense was checked at the door so that all could revel in the weekend. It wasn’t just about the show or the party, but about people coming together as a group, as one collective, as a sea of sepia youth. Maybe I am just being nostalgic, but we didn’t have to worry about being killed.
GWU said it would conduct a full review of Bhangra Blowout and decide if the event should be run differently, or if it should even continue to be held at all.
I agree that the tragedy at the Bhangra Blowout was disgusting and didn’t need to happen; however, I’m extremely annoyed at the people demonizing members of my generation, even though that’s what old people do. 😉 Anyway, not ALL members of our generation are like that, and if they are, then whose fault is that?
The problem is that these desis are confused. Many of them (us) are ugly and not accepted by mainstream America and turn to the only groups that will accept these kuchwa looking jalaway pakoras and those groups are the kaloos and hispanics. Desis actually start to think they are kaloos to the point where the dress, talk, act, walk and look like them. Hence the violence follows as a way to prove to their kaloo masters that they should be accepted. Fvcking losers.
Found this story from March 2007 (The GW Hatchet) http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2007/03/26/News/Student.Group.Hosts.Nationally.Famous.Infamous.Bhangra.Blowout-2791215.shtml
“There is no longer an official after party for the event due to a stabbing that resulted in the death of Ranjit Singh, a 20-year-old college student from Phillipsburg, N.J., organizers said.
“We haven’t had one since (the incident),” Gupta said. “We just feel like it’s a more cultural thing – and we’re so tired by the end.”
The South Asian Society is a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit filed by Ranjit Singh’s father Gurpal Singh as a result of the 2005 after-party. GW and the U.S. Government are also defendants in the suit.
Singh’s counsel, Geoffrey Allen, said GW filed a court motion to obtain all of the police reports associated with the stabbing. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is opposing the motion, Allen said, because the government is still looking for the offender, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.”
Couldn’t find news later than that.
Oh, there is this from 2009, but no mention of apprehending the killer. http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/newsroom/2009/07/13/bhangra-blowout-wrongful-death-suit-settled-out-of-court/
Monday, July 13, 2009 3:34 p.m. 2005 Bhangra Blowout wrongful death lawsuit settled out of court by Gabrielle Bluestone
A wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2006 against the University, the South Asian Society and multiple security companies was settled out of court last month, according to court documents.
The family of Ranjit Singh, 20, had asked for $6 million in compensation, but terms of the settlement have not been revealed. Singh was murdered in 2005 outside of an after-party for Bhangra Blowout, an annual dance competition sponsored by the South Asian Society.
Geoffrey Allen, counsel for the Singh family, said he could not comment because the terms of the settlement are confidential, but told The Hatchet in 2006 that the family just wanted to find out who was at fault.
Singh was killed outside the Old Post Office Pavilion, a federal building where the after-party was held. The lawsuit alleged that GW, SAS, and the other defendants failed to provide adequate security at the event, the lack of which resulted in the stabbing.
University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying litigation is still pending. Members of the SAS did not respond to requests for comment.
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