Another Sikh killed in Wisconsin, shot dead in an attempted robbery

Barely 12 days after the shooting at a Gurdwara that killed six worshippers, an elderly Sikh man has been shot dead in an attempted robbery incident in the same Wisconsin state.

A manhunt has been launched to nab the assailant, police said. The death of another Sikh has sent shock waves among the Sikh community members in Washington, even though the police have termed it as a robbery incident and ruled out any link to the August 5 shootout inside the Oak Creek Gurdwara that killed six Sikh worshippers.

The deceased Dalbir Singh, 56, assisted his nephew Jatinder Singh in running a grocery store in Milwaukee city, Wisconsin.

The incident happened Wednesday night when some unidentified men entered the shop and put a gun to Jatinder Singh head.

Jatinder Singh said he and his uncle made it back into the store and pushed the side door shut, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

But one of the men fired a shot through the door, killing Dalbir Singh, it said. Dalbir Singh was a regular visitor to the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, but was not present when the tragic incident happened on August 5.

with thanks : HINDUSTAN TIMES : LINK : for detailed news.

Being Sikh in America

By HARTOSH SINGH BAL

Scott Olson/Getty ImagesOak Creek, Wisconsin community members on August 10 mourn the loss of the six worshipers who were killed at the Sikh Temple.

DELHI — From 1988 to 1993 I was a graduate student at New York University. Like many nonobservant Sikhs, I did not wear a turban, but I did keep a beard. When I would travel to small-town America, my appearance sometimes gave rise to a barely concealed hostility, occasionally even a comment or two.

I am not claiming that such incidents were the norm, but they were not uncommon.

Once, as I was stepping out of my own apartment in Jersey City with a bag slung over my shoulders, the police pulled out a gun and searched me. On another occasion, camping in North Carolina, I was made to stand in a police car’s high-beams with my hands over my head, again with a gun pointed at me, until the cops saw my white companions.

The years I am talking about precede 9/11 by a decade. As far as I can see,post 9/11, it has become considerably easier to express and act on such prejudices. My point, though, is this: these prejudices have always existed in the United States, and they are not restricted to white supremacists.

So while it’s understandable that in the wake of the Wisconsin killings President Barack Obama is intent on acknowledging the Sikhs’ contribution to the United States, the Sikh religion is being praised for its inclusivenessand some Sikhs hope to cast the incident as an opportunity to be better understood, these well-meaning efforts are absurd.

Does anyone really believe that if Sikhs are recognized for who they are, they will no longer be figures of hate?

Looking at the problem this way is a classic case of stigmatizing the victim instead of the perpetrator. The white supremacist views of Wade M. Page are what count. It is they that need to be confronted head on, and they cannot be confronted by pretending that they are the aberrant manifestation of an isolated fringe.

The 200,000 or more Sikhs in America should know something about this. Their encounter with prejudice dates back to their first wave of immigration to the West Coast at the beginning of the twentieth century.

After landing in Vancouver, Sikh immigrants soon began moving down the West Coast, working in lumber mills and at building the railways. As soon as 1907, in the town of Bellingham in Washington, white workers attacked Sikhs — whom they mistakenly termed Hindus — eventually cleansing the town.

with thanks : latitude blogs nytimes : LINK : for detailed news story.

Happy Independence Day : Archive

Happy Independence Day : SikhsIndia

Sd. Fauja Singh speaks about : Turban

Vid : Ardas for Sikhs killed in USA by DSGMC : SikhsIndia

Ardas for Sikhs killed in USA was held at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi. Scores of Sikh Sangat was present there alongwith CM of Delhi Smt Shiela Dikshit, Minister Sd Arvinder Singh Lovely, Maharani Patiala as well Sd. Harvinder singh Sarna.
 

Vid by : SikhsIndia : www.sikhsindia.blogspot.in ( Plz bear with the quality ).

Ardaas for Sikhs killed in USA at Gurdwara Bangla sahib

Keertan Darbar in Krishna Nagar, Delhi

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-girlfriend of Sikh temple shooter arrested on weapons charge

 

MILWAUKEE –  Misty Cook, the ex-girlfriend of the man suspected of killing six worshippers at a Sikh temple before a police officer shot and killed him, was arrested on a weapons charge, law enforcement officials told FoxNews.com.

The gun was found during a search of the South Milwaukee home where Cook lives, sources said. The weapon, which law enforcement sources did not identify, was not involved in Sunday’s attack. A law enforcement source said Cook has a 2002 felony conviction for eluding police, making it illegal for her to possess a gun. She was arrested Sunday night on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and later released.

"The longer she stayed here with him, the more quiet and more withdrawn she got. In the end she didn't even make eye contact with me."- David Brown, formewr neighbor

Cook, a 31-year-old nursing student, lived with Page at two separate apartments in South Milwaukee and Cudahy, Wis., according to neighbors. She has not been charged in connection with the temple shooting. Sources said Cook will be arrested and processed by the South Milwaukee Police Department.

Jenna Benn, the Anti-Defamation League’s assistant regional director in Chicago told Stars and Stripes that Cook is affiliated with the white-power group Volksfront and is a supporter of the Hammerskin Nation, a Dallas-based white supremacy group. She said Page's ex-girlfriend is a prolific poster on hate forums.

with thanks : FOXNEWS : LINK : for detailed news.

Sikh vigil gathers neighbours of many faiths

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- A circle of more than 120 visitors and members of Huntsville Sikh community sat together in prayer Friday evening in a demonstration of unity in the face of the violence of Sunday’s shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

“I look out, and I see all religions, all races here,” said Huntsville police Capt. Tommy Presley Jr. “This is our America. I know some people don’t see it that way, but this is the real America.”

The gunman in Sunday’s attack, which killed six people and wounded four others, including a police officer, was a member of white supremacist organizations.

Dr. Daniel Crosby, a psychologist who said he became friends in high school with a teenage member of the congregation because, as a Mormon and a Sikh, they both faced misunderstanding of their faiths, also spoke. 

There was a good reason for people in Huntsville to gather, he said, even though they are more than 600 miles from where the attack happened.

“Violence against one faith group is violence against the bodies of all faith groups everywhere,” Crosby said, speaking with a voice strained with emotion. “Doing harm to any of God’s children is doing harm to all of God’s children.”

The tragedy that had brought so many visitors to the temple and prompted many to learn about Sikhs should lead to action, Crosby said. 

“Moments like this vigil are bought at an expensive price,” Crosby said. “The least we can do is to determine how we will become part of a brighter tomorrow.”

Rajinder Singh Mehta, one of the congregational leaders, thanked visitors for their support of the Sikh community. 

“We are refusing to accept that human beings are malicious and hateful,” Mehta said. “We are rejecting the notion that we need to live in fear.”

with thanks : AL : LINK : for detailed news.

Thousands Gather to Mourn Six Dead in Shooting at Temple

 

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.” 

with thanks : NYTimes : LINK : for detailed news.