Balbir Singh's death at the hands of a crazed Arizonan, and Representative Cooksey's statements about "diaper wearing Americans" reinforced my insecurity about being an American or "peripherally American" as an editorial on Sikhe lamented (Editorial: Peripherally American, Sep. 18). Cooksey and other hateful Americans evoke in me a certain melancholy; perhaps as they imply that I am homeless, stateless, and countryless.

The Statue of Liberty's call to people "yearning to live free" resonates with many Sikhs who left oppression in India to be free in America. For me, returning to the country my parents left, horrifies me even more than an America plagued by hate crimes. For in India after an event, such as Tuesday's attack, the police and the army would probably target me for torture or elimination. Moreover, India does much worse than call me a "diaper head," which at least acknowledges my distinct identity, if only in a perverse way. In India, I am denied identity. India's constitution legislates that Sikhs are Hindus.

The bright side of all the darkness of the last two weeks is that many Sikhs who were opposed to the idea of a Sikh state are now at least willing to reconsider. I assure them that a Sikh state will paradoxically improve their sense of security as Americans.

Alan Dershowitz, an American of Jewish extraction, notes the amazing impact the formation of Israel had on the self-respect of Jews living in America. Few American Jews planned to move Israel in 1948, but in America they felt they could stand taller and feel more secure. Dershowitz further points out that after 1948, anti-Semitism in America did not end abruptly, but it certainly declined rapidly. A Sikh state will do the same of Americans of Sikh extraction. A member of the US Congress would think twice about insulting an American who hailed from the Sikh state of Punjab or Khalistan.

It is true that the Guru says for a realized person security comes from within. The Nanaks and their great Sikhs found a home in their own heart that was brightly lighted by the flame of Truth. But what do mediocre Sikhs like me do who have not been Graced to realize the spark of the Divine within them? Is there no haven, even a temporary one, where I might join better Sikhs that myself to build a community where we might reflect of the Guru's wisdom unencumbered by the slings and arrows of the world?

I believe it is to us mediocre Sikhs that the Guru promised a home. He gave us hope in his final words, Raj Karega Khalsa. Indophilic and sophist Sikhs can argue all they want that these words have nothing to do with worldly or geographical Raj. They are unlikely to convince Sikhs like me who find comfort and hope in this promise of our Guru.

Raj Karega Khalsa!

The author's name has been witheld on request.