Amid growing incidents of bullying and discrimination against Sikh-American, South Asian and Muslim students in the US, California state has approved a new law to provide a safer school environment for children from the minority communities.


California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2845 also known as the "Safe Place to Learn Act," seeks to address bullying of South Asian, Muslim, and Sikh-American students as well as those mistaken to belong to those groups. "This is a landmark bill for California that will curb bullying and discrimination in the classroom," said Harjit Kaur, Community Development Manager for the Sikh Coalition. "AB 2845 ensures the right of every child to practice his/her faith freely in public schools," Kaur said. "(This bill) is very important to Muslim and Sikh children because both of our communities have seen a huge rise in the bullying of Muslim and perceived to be Muslim students," Saad Sweilem, civil rights attorney at CAIR-Sacramento Valley," told NBC News.