A poll released Friday by Cornell University has some pretty scary results. Almost half of respondents in the national poll feel that some civil liberties of Muslim Americans should be curtailed as a precaution against terrorism. As stated in their press release:

About 27 percent of respondents said that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government, and 26 percent said they think that mosques should be closely monitored by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Twenty-nine percent agreed that undercover law enforcement agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations, in order to keep tabs on their activities and fund raising. About 22 percent said the federal government should profile citizens as potential threats based on the fact that they are Muslim or have Middle Eastern heritage. In all, about 44 percent said they believe that some curtailment of civil liberties is necessary for Muslim Americans.

Conversely, 48 percent of respondents nationally said they do not believe that civil liberties for Muslim Americans should be restricted.

The Media and Society Research Group, in Cornell’s Department of Communication, commissioned the poll, which was supervised by the Survey Research Institute, in Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The results were based on 715 completed telephone interviews of respondents across the United States, and the poll has a margin of error of 3.6 percent.

The survey also examined the relation of religiosity to perceptions of Islam and Islamic countries among Christian respondents. Sixty-five percent of self-described highly religious people queried said they view Islam as encouraging violence more than other religions do; in comparison, 42 percent of the respondents who said they were not highly religious saw Islam as encouraging violence. In addition, highly religious respondents also were more likely to describe Islamic countries as violent (64 percent), fanatical (61 percent) and dangerous (64 percent). Fewer of the respondents who said they were not highly religious described Islamic countries as violent (49 percent), fanatical (46 percent) and dangerous (44 percent). But 80 percent of all respondents said they see Islamic countries as being oppressive toward women.

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The Los Angeles Times [registration required] publishes and in-depth article on census data released Wednesday, about the Asian American community. The full 24 page report can be found at the Census Bureau’s website and is titled, “We the People: Asians in the United States.”

From the LA times article:

Indian Americans have surged forward as the most successful Asian minority in the United States, reporting top levels of income, education, professional job status and English-language ability, even though three-fourths were foreign-born, according to U.S. census data released Wednesday.

The striking success of Asian Americans who trace their heritage to India contrasted with data showing struggles among Cambodian, Laotian and Hmong immigrants. Those three groups reported continued significant poverty rates, low job skills and limited English-language ability since their flight from war and political turmoil.

The report, “We the People: Asians in the United States,” was based on 2000 census data and underscored the enormous socioeconomic diversity among the nation’s 10 million Asian Americans, more than one third of whom live in California, the state with their largest population.

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The recent Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal, was based on the true story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian trapped in limbo at Charles de Gaulle airport. Simplify the story considerably (see the link above to snopes.com) and voila — a Hollywood movie!

Now, there’s a “Brown Terminal” story, about a Kenyan born British desi who is stuck at a Kenyan airport, having been deported from the UK. Any bets on how quickly Bollywood will bogart and bowdlerize his story? Any bets on what it will look like when it’s done?

Here’s the sitch:

A Kenyan-born British man has spent six months in Kenya’s international airport after being refused entry to the UK. Sanjai Shah has spent his time sleeping and wandering about in the transit lounge on the outskirts of the capital. He told the BBC he wants the British High Commission in Nairobi to send someone to the airport to sort it out. He told the BBC’s Muliro Telewa: “Life is very hard. You can sleep in the transit lounge, or wherever there is space. People are nice, they give me food. Others give me money. “I miss my wife and kids and they miss me. But if you want something, you must be ready to lose something.” The High Commission says Mr Shah had no automatic right to live and settle in the UK despite giving up his Kenyan passport after being awarded a British Overseas Citizen passport. His passport allows him entry into the UK but he was supposed to have a return ticket and sufficient funds to support his visit. Immigration officials suspected he planned to stay in the UK so refused him entry and flew him back. He said that he offered to buy a return ticket but was sent back, with a “prohibited immigrant” stamp in his passport, making it hard for him to travel to many countries. “This is not our problem, it is London’s,” a Kenyan immigration official told AFP news agency. “We have repeatedly told Shah to come to our offices for us to discuss his case and advise him on how to achieve his objectives, but he has refused and opted to stay at the airport,” British High Commission spokesman Mark Norton said.

Aspiring screenwriters, start your engines!

BBC: Man ‘living’ in airport terminal BBC: Life in the lounge Snopes.com: Stranded at the Airport

Thanks to “offensive” timing (and who knows why else), it’s a tragedy, not a reality show.

At least two people have been killed and 18 others injured in an explosion at a concert by an Indian Bollywood star in Colombo.

Police said a hand-grenade ripped through the front stands as Shahrukh Khan ended his performance on Saturday.

The grenade exploded in the audience’s VIP section, killing a woman and a child. Also injured? 18 show attendees, six of them critically. All of the affected were Sri Lankan.

The show, called Temptation 2004 and featuring a host of Indian film stars, was billed as Sri Lanka’s biggest musical event of the year, with 10,000 people reported to have attended.

Buddhist monks had planned a peaceful protest during the performance, but they called it off after receiving a written apology from Mr Khan about the bad timing of the concert.

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Why is it that every time I write about some unfortunate Indian American family they happen to be Sikh? Just bad luck? The latest is the case of the Anands from Concord, California whose house was burned down in early September, allegedly by arson. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Concord police have recommended that a laborer who was working at the home next door be charged with arson and burglary in connection with the fire. The district attorney expects to make a decision within the next week or so. To support the family, a candlelit vigil was held recently at the family’s burnt-out home that brought together about 150 South Asians, neighbors, civil rights groups, and supporters from many different backgrounds who urged the district attorney to prosecute the suspect.

The Anands are thankful to the many people who have donated clothes, food, and even architectural services. Now, they are struggling to rebuild their lives.

“I can hardly sleep. I’m worried all the time what is going to happen to this family,” said father Gurcharanjeet “Don” Anand, 54. The delivery truck driver is on disability following a car accident and heart bypass surgery late last year. Thickset, with a graying beard, he is a laconic man.

But once again the question that is difficult to answer is whether or not this was a Hate Crime. The Anands suspect it MAY have been by some comments the alleged arsonist had made in prior dealings with the family.

Over three days, a man working at the house next door asked the Anands for water, and to borrow the phone. They obliged, and Minnie Anand even fixed him a plate of spaghetti when he said he was hungry. But each time, he made increasingly disturbing comments, according to the family’s pro-bono lawyer, Edwin Prather.

What made your people come here? You Indians have a lot of money. Do you own your house? You have beautiful daughters.

Sunday afternoon, the Anands turned the man away when he asked to use the phone. He left, angry. The Anands and their five children left for temple — where the bad news came that night.

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