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| PHOTO COURTESY: SEVA |
In the wake of a bloody fight at a South Richmond Hill temple last week, Sikhs are working to educate police and others on a community they say is peace loving and mortified by the clash between individuals wielding swords and cricket bats.
“The whole community was walking around with their heads down, ashamed,” said Gurpal Singh, a Richmond Hill resident and director of organizing at Seva, an organization that works on empowering southeast Asians in Queens.
Singh and a number of youth from Seva — a term in Sikhism that means bettering the community — met with about 25 police officers from the 106th Precinct after the violence that erupted April 24 at the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center at 101st Avenue and 114th Street.
Temple members said the clash occurred following a disagreement over who should be president of the temple.
The 106th Precinct’s community affairs officer, Ken Zorn, asked Singh and the others to speak with the officers so they could become better acquainted with Sikh residents.
“Essentially he said he feared a lot of his officers would begin to develop stereotypes because of what happened,” Singh said. “We spoke to the officers about what Sikhs look like, how we don’t all have beards and turbans. We spoke about language issues and how there might be people trying to cooperate with the NYPD, but because of language barriers, it might seem like they’re holding out.
He noted that Seva members brought flowers for an officer injured during the clash at the temple.
“Through this organization, I have been involved with every temple, especially that one, so I personally knew everyone involved and could assure them there are only two or three people really responsible for the whole thing, not an entire community,” he said.
Other members of the Sikh population held peaceful demonstrations outside the temple this past Sunday. Many carried signs bearing slogans about being compassionate and understanding.
Police were present at the temple on Sunday to ward off any attacks.
“The police only allowed 10 people into the temple at a time on Sunday, so there was no big gathering inside,” said Mohinder Singh, a past president of the temple. “People outside were talking about what happened and what the solution should be.”
Mohinder Singh said there are community groups working with those who were involved in the attack to promote dialogue between the two sides and ensure something similar does not happen again.
“We are good people, right-thinking people who want to resolve it,” he said. “Everyone feels so shamed. We want to make things right again.”
© Queens Chronicle 2011