Malkit Singh Gill is president of the Milford Gurdwara Sahib, run by the New England Sikh Study Circle. While the organization was founded in 1968, the group did not buy its own temple until 1990, when it bought the current building in Milford.
Gill, a 52-year-old business owner with a background in electrical engineering and computer programming, said the temple draws members from across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The Milford gurdwara, one of just four Sikh temples in Massachusetts, offers weekly services Friday nights and Sunday mornings in Punjabi, with English translation available, plus classes in Punjabi and Sikh theology. The state’s other Sikh temples are in Millis, Everett, and Somerville.
The Milford congregation has grown so large, with 200 to 300 families attending weekly services and upward of 600 at special events, that the organization is planning to move the temple to a 37-acre campus recently purchased in Westborough within two years, Gill said. The New England Sikh Study Circle broke ground on the new facility on July 29, a week before a gunman walked into a temple in Wisconsin and killed six people.
After the shootings, Gill answered a series of questions from the Globe about his faith and the local Sikh community.
Q: What has the local community’s reaction been to the shooting in Wisconsin?
Gill: Shock. Disbelief. Support and solidarity.
The whole local American and Sikh American community was shocked to know that innocent devotees in a place of worship have been gunned down.
It being a heinous crime against humanity, it is unimaginable that any place of worship, where people go to attain peace and tranquility, can be attacked.
Q: How have you discussed the shootings with your congregation?
Gill: With the sincerest sense of sharing their grief as equal partners in grief, and ensuring them our full support in the days ahead.
As an expression of sense of loss, the community gathered for prayers and candle vigil. This allowed us to share the grief and pray together for the victims and their families. After the vigil, people talked about their feelings and how to help the victims and their family.
We had tremendous support from the entire community and people from all the faiths; the candlelight vigil was joined by the interfaith community.
Q: What are the lessons and tenets of the Sikhism that you would like the greater public to know?
Gill: Sikhism is the youngest “Way of Life,” started by its first guru, Guru Nanak Sahib (born in the year 1469). As its tenets it advocates as follows:
Belief in one creator, who resides within His creation.
Belief that all of us humans (irrespective of our color, creed, religion, belief system, national origin, gender, or anything else) are children of one common creator; hence, all of us (men as well as women) are equal in every respect. All of us are members of one human family. And all of us are brothers and sisters in humanity. Therefore, any form of division amongst us, based on color, creed, caste, or any other criteria, is man-made and not God-made.
Furthermore, such an understanding flows from a daily practice of the following pillars of the Sikh faith: Earning one’s livelihood through honest and truthful means; sharing it with others, including our sufferings and happiness; always staying focused on truth that emanates from the remembrance of the Creator.
To develop such a discipline and understanding of this unique Sikh way of life, a Sikh, as a start, is advised to keep his/her hair intact, clean and tidy by wearing a turban.
Furthermore, Sikhism is neither an offshoot of Hinduism nor of Islam, but is a full-fledged religion of its own with its own guiding scripture, Guru Granth Sahib; its own unique writing script, the Gurmukhi alphabet; its own fundamental doctrines; its own code of conduct; own Sikh flag; own Sikh culture, history, and proud Sikh heritage.
Q: Do you or your congregation face discrimination as a result of your faith? Could you give some examples?
Gill: Lot of Sikhs have been discriminated as a result of how they look, especially in their place of work due to their beard and turban.
There are more than 1,000 cases filed by the Sikh Coalition in the USA courts.
Sikhs feel discriminated at the airport. Their bags are searched most of the time and are singled out. I have personally been through this lot of times.
Q: What sort of reaction have you had from other faith communities, such as the Muslim community, that they have faced episodes of discrimination in the past?
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