So residents of the affluent, ethnically diverse Sterling community were shocked and bewildered when the news broke last month that a family of Indian Sikhs who live nearby — a software consultant, his wife and two children — had found an anonymous, threatening letter in their mailbox. Addressed to “The Turban Family,” the letter suggested that the senders were vigilantes on the prowl for Islamist extremists.
“Our people in the neighborhood have been closely watching your activities and figured out you are a close associate of a secret Taliban movement on the US Soil,” said the typewritten letter. “We ask you to leave the country as soon as possible otherwise one of our people is going to shoot you dead.”
National advocates for Sikh immigrants, known for aggressively defending their members against discrimination, sprang into action. They posted the letter on the Web site of the Sikh American Defense and Education Fund, contacted law enforcement agencies and urged the victims to speak out.
