Norwich — Members of the statewide Sikh religious community, who say they are being targeted with hate crimes nationally because of the turbans they wear as part of their faith, met with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney at his downtown offices Friday to spread the word that they are a peaceful people.

"We are the victim of mistaken identity," said Manmohan Singh Bahrara, owner of a Hamden insurance agency.

Unfortunately, according to the Sikhs, many people associate their turbans with the Muslim faith and several of their religious brethren have been harassed, roughed up and even killed as a result.

These crimes have occurred in places other than Connecticut, they added, but the concern is there all the same.

"Sikhs are mainstream people," said Swaranjit Singh Khalsa, a real estate investor who owns the Norwichtown Shell Station & Carwash. "We're business people, doctors, engineers. We believe in the system."

Amarjit Singh, a financial adviser, alluded to the current political dialogue as well.

"There is hatred being spread all over the country, and Sikhs are the first target," he said.

About a dozen Sikhs representing between 500 and 1,000 families in Connecticut — the largest concentration being in Southington and Norwalk — appeared to ask Courtney for help on a variety of fronts.

Among their other concerns were to get out the word to first responders that they need to be aware of Sikhs' religious strictures against the cutting of hair and to seek support for fully integrating Sikhs into the U.S. military by allowing them into frontline combat, now restricted because of their turbans and beards.

In addition, the Sikhs hoped to make Courtney aware of the current Indian government's moves against minorities despite earlier assurances after the partition of India in 1947 that a Punjab state would be formed.

"If you want to live in India, you will labeled as a Hindu," Khalsa said.

He added that the Sikhs would like Courtney to support an effort to pin what he termed a 1984 "genocide" against the Sikhs on the Indian government.

California passed a similar measure last year, and Khalsa said such recognition would help give closure to families who lost loved ones in the attacks.

According to online sources, the trouble started when the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi ordered an attack on the Golden Temple in Punjab after receiving reports that weapons were being stockpiled there.

Sikh bodyguards then assassinated Ghandi, leading to about 3,000 deaths.

Courtney, D-2nd District, said he was very aware of the Sikh community in Connecticut and was sad to hear of religious discrimination.

"We're at our best as Americans when we show tolerance and respect for all faiths," Courtney said. "That's the absolute bedrock law of the nation, which is the First Amendment."

l.howard@theday.com

Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow