OAK CREEK, Wis. — One by one, six coffins were rolled into a high school
gymnasium here Friday and were surrounded by Sikh men and women singing
traditional Punjabi hymns. As they sang, thousands of people from
around the world streamed into the gym to mourn the six worshipers who were shot and killed on Sunday at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin here.
The deaths have rocked the town and reverberated throughout the global
Sikh community, leading neighbors to skip work and visitors from as far
as India to converge at Oak Creek High School for a group memorial
service and wake.
“These bullets have hit their hearts,” said Rajwant Singh, chairman of
Sikh Council on Religion and Education, who traveled from Washington.
“It has become a big family gathering. It is really a shaking moment
hitting the core of the community.”
During the visitation, families of the victims stood next to the bodies
of their loved ones. Wooden coffins, draped with white cloth, were lined
up under the basketball nets. Behind each coffin was a portrait of the
victim and flowers.
A line of visitors stretched out the door and into the parking lot.
Though the gym was packed, with bleachers overflowing, the room was
completely still as the victims’ names were read over a loudspeaker:
Sita Singh, 41; Ranjit Singh, 49; Prakash Singh, 39; Paramjit Kaur, 41;
Suveg Singh, 84; and the temple’s president, Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65.
People of a range of races and faiths wore colored head scarves out of
respect for the Sikh religion. Some were red-eyed from crying. Others
clutched rosary beads. It was the most recent example of the outpouring
of support from a community that has held vigils, sent comforting
e-mails, and helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the
victims’ families over the past week.
“I don’t see how we can forget this,” said Barbara Henschel, 41, of who
lives in nearby Milwaukee and took time off work to attend the service.
“There’s a lot of healing that will have to begin.”
Representatives of the victims’ families, Sikh religious leaders and
government officials spoke during the memorial service, among them Gov.
Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
“No matter what country your ancestors came from, no matter where you
worship, no matter what your background, as Americans, we are one,” said
Mr. Walker. “When you attack one of us, you attack all of us.”
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