CHICAGO, Dec 14, (Agencies): Pardeep Kaleka spent several days after 9/11 at his father’s Milwaukee gas station, fearing that his family would be targeted by people who assumed they were Muslim. No, Kaleka explained on behalf of his father, who wore a turban and beard and spoke only in broken English, the family was Sikh, a southeast Asian religion based on equality and unrelated to Islam.

But amid a new wave of anti- Islamic sentiment since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Kaleka is vowing to take an entirely different approach. “For us it does not matter who they’re targeting,” said Kaleka, a former Milwaukee police officer and teacher whose father was one of six people killed in 2012 when a white supremacist opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. “This time we cannot differentiate ourselves; when hate rhetoric is being spewed we cannot be on the sidelines.”

Across the US, Sikhs and Muslims are banding together to defend their respective religions. Someone bent on harming Muslims wouldn’t understand — or care — about the distinction between the two faiths, they say, and both also deserve to live in peace. So they plan educational sessions and rallies. They successfully pushed the FBI to track hate crimes against Sikhs. They speak to lawmakers and support each other’s legal action, including a lawsuit filed over a New York City police surveillance program targeting New Jersey Muslims. “We are in this fight together,” said Gurjot Kaur, a senior staff attorney at The Sikh Coalition, founded the night of Sept 11. Sikhism, a monotheistic faith, was founded more than 500 years ago in Southeast Asia and has roughly 27 million followers worldwide, most of them in India.

There are more than 500,000 Sikhs in the US. Male followers often cover their heads with turbans — which are considered sacred — and refrain from shaving their beards. Reports of bullying, harassment and vandalism against Sikhs have risen in recent weeks.

Last week, a Sikh temple in Orange County, California, was vandalized, as was a truck in the parking lot by someone who misspelled the word “Islam” and made an obscene reference to ISIS. A Sikh woman said she recently was forced to show her breast pump before taking her seat on an airplane in Minneapolis because another passenger thought she might be a terrorist. Several Sikh football fans said they initially were not allowed into Qualcomm Stadium to watch the San Diego Chargers game against the Denver Broncos last Sunday because several of them were wearing turbans. Schoolchildren say they’ve been bullied.

For most Sikhs, much of the backlash has been frequent stares or comments and occasional online insults

CrossingFormer NCAA basketball player Darsh Singh said he has heard insults throughout his life, including recently when someone recently yelled “Osama!” at him as he was crossing a street in Phoenix. Then last week, a photo making the rounds on Facebook showed the former Trinity University basketball player — the first turbaned Sikh to play in the NCAA — with the caption: “Nobody wants to guard Muhammad, he’s too explosive.” Afriend came to his defense with a lengthy post —saying, “do the world a favor and educate yourself” — which got tens of thousands of likes

Forgive“A lot of people act out of fear or ignorance,” said Singh. “I don’t know who started it, but whoever they are, I forgive them.” Rajinder Singh Mago, community outreach director at the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, said it’s more difficult for Sikh schoolchildren who sometimes are bullied. “Ninety-nine percent of Americans are good ... then that one person who just came out of a tavern after a few beers, you don’t know what he’s thinking at that point,” Mago said. Madihha Ahussain, a staff attorney at the national group Muslim Advocates, said people who are misinformed about both religions not only are “blaming entire faith communities, now they’re blaming multiple groups for the acts of a couple individuals.”

From the suburbs of Los Angeles to the outskirts of Washington, DC, mosques around the United States are warily stepping up security in the face of growing fears about reprisals on American Muslims. The increasing safety concerns described by American Islamic leaders — and the steps they are taking in response, including hiring armed guards — represent the flip side of the rising public anxiety about Islamic State-inspired terror after attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.

The call by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump to ban Muslims from entering the United States only amplified concerns about an anti-Islamic backlash at mosques and community centers, religious leaders and organizers say. At least two mosques — one in Phoenix and the other in suburban Virginia — are working with the Department of Homeland Security to check up on the security their facilities provide for worshippers in recent weeks. Others report taking a range of steps, including hiring armed guards, because of fears that an American mosque could be a target for an attack.