Houston post office named after Indian-American Sikh cop killed on duty

Original Article
October 6, 2021
Ishani Duttagupta

A small group of elected officials, law enforcement officers, and Houston community members gathered to honour fallen Harris County sheriff’s deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal with a post office naming ceremony, on Tuesday.
Deputy Dhaliwal was killed during a traffic stop in northwest Houston, Texas, on September 27, 2019. He originally joined the Harris County sheriff’s office in 2009; in 2015, he secured a historic, first-of-its-kind accommodation to wear his Sikh articles of faith while serving in uniform. Deputy Dhaliwal was widely regarded for breaking barriers for Sikhs and other religious minorities.

According to a Bill introduced by Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (Democrat-Texas); supported by the Sikh Coalition; passed with bipartisan support, including that of Senators Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) and John Cornyn (Republican-Texas); and signed into law on December 21, 2020, the post office located at 315 Addicks Howell Road will henceforth be named the Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal Post Office Building. The Sikh Coalition helped in drafting and marshalling support for the legislation that resulted in the naming of the post office. The community organisation also mobilised thousands of Sikh community members to contact their elected representatives in the days after Deputy Dhaliwal’s death urging for steps to honour his memory. 

“Since my son was taken from our family in a senseless act of violence, we have received an outpouring of support and love from the greater Houston community,” said Pyara Singh Dhaliwal, the late Deputy Dhaliwal’s father. “We are so grateful and so honoured that Sandeep is being memorialised in this way - forever becoming a part of the city that he served faithfully both in and out of uniform.”

“Naming a federal building for Deputy Dhaliwal in his beloved Houston is a deeply meaningful gesture, and we are grateful to Congresswoman Fletcher and the rest of Houston’s congressional delegation for their leadership on this effort,” said Sim J. Singh Attariwala, Sikh Coalition senior policy and advocacy manager. “Today, we remember that Deputy Dhaliwal’s legacy is not just his service to the city of Houston, but also the example of his life: that diversity and inclusion make all of our communities, and our country, stronger.”

“It has been an honour to lead the effort to recognise the life and contributions of Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal by naming this post office in his memory,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher. “Deputy Dhaliwal represented the very best of our community: he worked for equality, connection, and community through his life of service to others.The Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal Post Office now stands as a testament to his remarkable and selfless service, and I thank our partners at the Sikh Coalition for helping us build a bipartisan coalition to honour Deputy Dhaliwal and his trailblazing contributions to American life.”