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A Sikh student was assaulted last Tuesday at Richmond Hill High School.

Jagmohan Singh Premi was punched in the face after a student attempted to remove his patka, a small turban.

The student had a documented history of harassing Premi in school, according to Amardeep Singh, executive director of the Sikh Coalition.

“How many more meetings is it going to take before our children are safe? How many more press conferences? How many more calls from distressed Sikh parents because the schools can’t do their job? How many more reports by the Sikh Coalition like ‘Hatred in the Hallways’? How many,” Singh said.

“I personally handed the Commissioner a folder in July 2007 that listed Richmond Hill High School as a ‘problem school’ for Sikh children. What action was taken? It clearly was not enough to spare Premi a school year of torment. This is inexcusable. We’re fed up and our patience is running thin. The Department needs to give the Sikh community a plan to protect the Sikh community from bias in schools and we need that plan now,” he said.

The harassing student allegedly punched Premi in the face with keys between his knuckles after Premi resisted attempts to untie his patka.

Harpal Singh Vacher was attacked at a school in Elmhurst on March 24 last year, where students cut his hair, an important symbol in the Sikh religion.

“I am sad this is happening in America. I want to go to school to learn,” Premi, said in a statement.

The Coalition said that nearly 50 percent of Sikh New York City students had been harassed in school in a 2007 report titled, “Hatred in the Hallways.”

Another study by the Coalition in April listed Richmond Hill High School one of the most problematic schools in the City for Sikh students, with more than 50 percent reporting abuse, according to the survey.

“It’s utterly incredulous that the Department of Education fails to acknowledge the problem of harassment of students in our public schools,” City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) said. “Just a year ago, Harpal Singh Vacher was attacked in a public school, and yet the DOE has lifted nary a finger to address this persistent problem. The DOE has to stop turning a blind eye towards this harassment against students in public schools. Not only is the Department failing to secure a learning environment, it is putting students in peril. The DOE is as culpable as the individual who actually perpetrated this attack against Premi.”

Singh says the DOE lacks a system to track instances of bias-based harassment, making it difficult to identify and fix problem schools. Many Sikh immigrants also face a language barrier, further exacerbating the issue, he said.

Singh said Premi is recovering normally, but is still suffering from the attack.

“He’s ok. He’s just scared to go back to school,” Singh said.

The student accused of assaulting Premi received a five day suspension pending a formal investigation into the attack.