A GRIFFITH man who has been the victim of racist taunts fears for his safety after Monday's siege in Martin Place.
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Mohan Singh is a member of the Sikh community and has lived in Griffith for 32 years.
He said he had already been a victim of verbal abuse and feared the attacks would escalate.
"I'm a Sikh, I'm not a Muslim," Mr Singh said.
"Before things get out of hand, we just want to make it clear that we are Sikhs, we are not Muslims."
Mr Singh said he had been a victim of many racist outbursts in Griffith.
“People put their heads out of their cars and they say ‘I hate you Muslim, go back to your own country’. This has happened to me many times.”
Mr Singh said he, along with other Australians, condemned the events of Monday.
“We should all live in harmony. You can’t change our way our life. I don’t care what religion you come from or what part of the world you come from, I respect all faiths and all religions but please don’t target us.
“My heart goes out to the families of the hostages and the victims.
“The police and our security agencies – they did a great job.”
Mr Singh said he could not understand when people told him to go back to his own country because everyone in Australia, with the exception of Aboriginals, had migrated here.
“I know this country doesn’t belong to us, but we are all migrants.
"The people who took over this country, they can’t tell us to go,” he said.
Mr Singh said there were about 1000 members of the Sikh community in the Riverina.
Griffith police Commander Superintendent Michael Rowan said the local area command had good systems in place to investigate any racially motivated or bias crime reported.
“I have personally engaged with the leaders of the vulnerable communities and it has been confirmed that there have been no instances of any racially motivated bias crime reported in recent times,” Superintendent Rowan said.
“I was recently at the Griffith Regional Advisory Committee and can advise that there is a high level of trust within those communities because of the positive interactions of local police at a variety of events including the recent multicultural festival, as well as the relationships with police.”
Superintendent Rowan said any matter reported would be investigated and appropriate action would be taken.
Three people, including the gunman, were pronounced dead after the siege.
They included a 50-year-old man, a 34-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman.
On Monday night a group of 40 groups representing NSW’s Islamic community issued a statement expressing their “utter shock and horror at the unprecedented scenes” from Martin Place.
“We reject any attempt to take the innocent life of any human being, or to instill fear into their hearts,” the statement said.
“This is a time for all Australians to stand together and support each other.”