Los Angeles area Sikh Gurdwara Vandalized
Los Angeles/Washingon December 8, 2015: A Sikh Gurdwara (house of worship) based in Buena Park in Los Angeles suburbs, was vandalized during Sunday early hours and a hateful graffiti was seen on the walls of the Gurdwara and also a truck parked in the parking lot. The graffiti included the phrase, "Fu*k ISIS," and the words "Islahm" and other reference of gangs. Buena Park Police Department is investigating and has been in touch with the officials of the Sikh congregation. President of the Sikh Gurdwara, Inderjot Singh said, "We are concerned about the safety and security of our community members. We are of the opinion that this is a hate crime and that this is a direct result of a possible backlash from the San Bernardino killings.”
Sikh Gurdwara is attended by over 800 community members on a weekly basis. It is located very prominently on the main road in the city.
Sikhs have faced hate crimes and violence in the past due to their outer appearances and a Sikh temple was attacked by a gunman in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012 and six Sikh members lost their lives in that shooting. Sikh men wear turban and beard and often become a target of hate due to ignorance about Sikh religion and its origin in America. There have been numerous cases of Sikh community members facing violence since 9/11 and the first hate crime in the aftermath of 9/11 resulted a killing of Sikh man in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education based in Washington, has contacted the White House and senior White House officials have immediately contacted the Gurdwara president Inderjot Singh. In addition, White House has forwarded the incident to Department of Homeland Security to investigate.
Dr. Singh said, "The Sikh community across the nation is in a heightened state of alert and is deeply troubled by this latest incident. We are appealing to all Sikh place of congregation to be in touch with the local law enforcement agencies as well with the elected officials."
He added, "We are also concerned with the recent anti-Muslim rhetoric coming out of some of the contenders of American presidency. This will directly result in elevated level of violence against minority religions in America and particularly the Sikhs. We are fearful that this kind of hate speech against Muslims will engulf Sikhs and members of the Muslim community across the nation."
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Related Article:Some in Sikh community react with concern
Victor Panichkul, Statesman Journal
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/...
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"We're all concerned about it," said Jaswinder Singh, a member of the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh Temple in Salem. "America is a melting pot, how can we pick on one culture? How can we point to one religion? How do we say they're wrong and we're right? How can we judge people?"
"Thoroughly checking people's backgrounds (who are immigrating or entering the country) makes sense. But we can't just pick one culture and say, 'No,'" said Jagtar Singh, who's secretary of the temple.
Jaswinder Singh said members of the Sikh community in the United States have faced increasing incidents of discrimination as the issue of Muslims and Syrian refugees has made the country more divisive. "We have so many incidents that happen because we look like them (Muslims), but we're not Muslims," he said.
Both also were concerned about the idea of preventing American citizens who were Muslims and who were traveling abroad from returning to the United States. "How do we keep people from their families?" said Jaswinder Singh. "That's not right."
Both men say they believe Trump is doing this for political gain, but fear it ends up making the country more divisive.
"We can't just pick on one culture," Jaswinder Singh said. "That's not America."
According to the Sikh Center of Oregon, located in Beaverton, Sikhism is a religion founded by Guru Nanak during the 15th century in Punjab region of Asia, which is now divided between India and Pakistan. It is the fifth largest religion in terms of population with approximately 32 million Sikhs around the globe. According to 2001 Census, there are about 57,000 Sikhs in United States.