Browsing Tag: Shootings

While the Unity 5K began as a remembrance of those lost at the Sikh Temple shootings in Oak Creek Wisconsin in 2012, this year the groups remembered those lost in the recent shootings in Charleston, SC and Chattanooga, TN.

When Pardeep Kaleka heard about the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, grief and terror came flooding back to him. For nearly three years he has had to live with sorrow and uncertainty, ever since the day a gunman opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

When you give him the credit he cutely smiles and points his finger upwards saying it is Him who did it, not him.

The sangat at the gurdwara was in the true spirit of chardi kala. I found the atmosphere to be spiritually uplifting.

But as we reflect on the meaning of this tragedy one year later, we can choose to focus on what we do know for certain: the beauty of the six victims’ final act on Earth.

Two days after the event, I noted that the major news networks (not including CNN) had dedicated scant coverage to the shooting compared to Aurora, leaving it "destined to disappear into the realm of the nothing-to-be-done, nothing-to-be-discussed."

“All things being relative, I’m in a good spot,” Murphy explained. “Obviously, I realize how fortunate I am to even be alive. I don’t know why, and I don’t think I’ll ever know why....

What happened at Oak Creek matters to us first, as faith leaders, because we recognize a deep responsibility to act as stewards of community.

As Sikhs we do not proselytize. But should we educate? In light of the Oak Creek anniversary we are reminded of the huge gap of awareness about Sikhi.

After consideration and contemplation, temple members kept the policy, deciding it was important to show the world the best way to stand against violence was to respond with love, peace and compassion.

But in the US, both in terms of tradition as well as law concealed carrying of dagger or sword clashes with the norms of life.

Gun issues vary from locale to locale. A ban imposed in 1994 on semi-automatic weapons during the Clinton administration had expired in 2004. After the CT shooting, gun control advocates asked for the ban to be reinstated.

Envisioning imminent prospect of an intense Gun Control debate, pursued in the interfaith arena through intense activist interventions by church groups, I concurred that we need to be meaningfully engaged in this debate as a faith group.

In the honor and memory of those people who lost their lives at the Oak Creek Wisconsin Gurdwara (Sikh temple) shooting in the summer of 2012. Snatam Kaur, along with the Sikh community of the New Jersey Bridgewater Gurdwara, gives us an inside view of the beautiful Sikh way of life.

Murdered Satwant Singh was posthumously honored at Golden Temple. He was shot dead on 5 Aug 2012 during a mass shooting at Oak Creek Sikh shrine in Wisconsin, USA. Singh was one of the founding members of the shrine.

Indeed, when Sikhs reflect upon their history which includes significant persecution, it is often with a spirit of rejuvenation and inspiration. This is the Sikh ethos of chardi kala — a mindset of optimism — that we often invoke...

On December 16, 2012, in response to the tragic events and suffering at Newtown, CT, WSC-AR coordinated with Sikh Americans from ten Sikh Gurdwaras (of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey), to attend the candlelight vigil and interfaith prayer service held at Newtown High School.

What I hope happens is that the sense of community that is building right now continues so we can critically use this horrible event to address the problem of lethal violence in all of its forms — the other many, many acts of senseless violence that happen on a daily basis...

Sikhs here acknowledge differences between the Oak Creek attacks and the Connecticut massacre, but also the complete similarity in the pain of loss.

First Lady Mitchelle Obama offered consoling words and gave hugs to all the family members of the Sikh victims of the Oak Creek Gurdwara shooting in Wisconsin in August.

"There was sadness. There was grief. There was peace. People came and went, prayed, chatted, hugged and cried. I prayed, observed and participated as best as I could, ever mindful of an undeniable feeling of graciousness and love that permeated every inch of the Sikh Temple," says Weiss.

Sikh community members, city leaders and others gathered at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek Wednesday evening, November 21st for the very first “Heritage Day” event. The goal of the event was: “Uniting communities and cultures by breaking barriers.”

When bullets, blood and terror came to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on that Sunday morning, Aug. 5, Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy would not give in. In the middle of a gun battle that raged for about two minutes, he found himself wedged beneath a car as the gunman reloaded. And he thought to himself: "I'm not going out like this. I'm not going out in a parking lot."

American society tends to delude itself into believing that ignorance is the exclusive source of hate-violence. Part of the reason for this is that this idea is more comforting than the reality. It’s comforting for us to think that people would be compassionate towards one another if they were more educated.

"It will get better, but it will be bad for awhile."

PBS affiliate KLRN in San Antonio Texas (USA) interviews G.P. Singh and Simranjeet Singh about how Sikhs are processing the Wisconson Gurdwara shootings.

Why revisit a tragedy?

Obama responded by saying, "It was needed and more to come and you can be assured of that."

“Well, I think our orientation as a community has been to stress that we are opposed to religious hostility and hate crime-type violence directed against any community, whether it be the Muslim community or the Jewish community or any other religious community in America,” Singh said.

Local members hope that the tragedy in suburban Milwaukee will give them a chance to educate their neighbors about the Sikh faith while paying honor to those that were lost.