A Sikh politician running for a mayoral position in New Jersey, United States has been labelled a terrorist in anonymous racist flyers.
The flyers targeting Ravinder Bhalla, the first Sikh in New Jersey to be elected to a public office, were placed on car windshields on Friday night, just days before the Hoboken Mayoral election, reported.
“Don’t let terrorism take over our town”, the flyers read in the bold red letters which also carry a photo of Mr Bhalla.
According to reports in the local media, it’s the second time in the same week that a “racist flyer” had been circulated to target a candidate.
Earlier, another mayoral candidate, Mike DeFusco allegedly sent out mailers accusing Mr Bhalla of a potential conflict of interest, an accusation prominently mentioned on the latest flyer as well.
Mr DeFusco condemned the flyers.
"I called Councilman Bhalla tonight to assure him that although we disagree on many issues, we can stand united against this kind of racism infecting our city," he was quoted as saying.
Mr Bhalla said the flyer was “troubling". “We won’t let hate win,” he said on Twitter.
“I want to use this as an opportunity to affirm to each other and our children the value of living in a diverse community where we are judged by the content of our character — not by the colour of our skin or how we worship,” Bhalla said in the statement.
Hoboken Police said the incident is being investigated as a potential bias crime, including bias intimidation or harassment.
"Looking at the law, it could touch on that," Hoboken police chief Kenneth Ferrante said. "It's awful conduct whoever was the person behind it, and illegal conduct."
