New York (CNN) - A Columbia University professor who wrote about hate crimes against Sikhs may have become a victim of one himself when 12 to 15 people attacked him while shouting anti-Muslim slurs, police said.
Prabhjot Singh, a Sikh and a professor of international and public affairs, said the attackers were yelling "get Osama" and "terrorist" when they swarmed him Saturday night near Central Park in New York.
"There were about 20 of them. A few surrounded me, and started punching me," Singh said, according to the Sikh Coalition.
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He suffered injuries to his face, including displaced teeth and a possible fracture in his lower jaw, as well as severe bruising and a small puncture on his elbow, the coalition said. Singh was treated and released from Mount Sinai hospital.
The New York Police Department said it is investigating the incident as a hate crime.
"This is a tremendous blow not just to Prabhjot and Sikh Americans, but to the ideals of all New Yorkers," said Amardeep Singh, program director of the Sikh Coalition. "What happened did not happen in a vacuum. Here in New York City, we regularly receive reports that Sikh school children are called 'Bin Laden' or 'terrorist' by classmates and sometimes endure physical violence."
