Sikhs allege ragging and insult of religious symbols

Indore, Aug 16 (PTI) Scores of people of Guru Singh Sabha (GSS) here today held a protest outside the Superintendent of Police (East) office alleging that senior students indulged in ragging a Sikh student at a private college and poked fun at his religious symbols including "pagri and juri" on the eve of Independence Day. GSS president Gurudeep Bhatia who led the delegation and submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Police (East), alleged that three students, Shivam Yadav, Chanchal Yadav, and Rishi Batra not only indulged in ragging the Sikh fresher Dilraj Singh Khanuja, but also removed his "pagri" and touched religious symbols before beating him up badly. The GSS demanded action against the accused and a criminal case to be filed under ragging rules against the accused, a GSS functionary told reporters at the protest site. The victim, Dilaraj, was a first year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) fresher student in Prestige College and the brother of a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leader, while the accused who indulged in ragging were seniors, including the son of a former Congress councillor, the police said. The SP East OP Tripathi assured the GSS delegation of action against the culprits after investigation and a report of the college's anti-ragging committee.

with thanks : IBNLive : LINK

Dalbir Singh Murdered: Another Sikh Killed in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

Another Sikh has been murdered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

56-year old Dalbir Singh regularly attended the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, the same gurdwara where white supremacist Wade Michael Page opened fire and killed six members of the congregation.

According to a press release issued by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Milwaukee Police Department has been treating the case as a robbery, has not yet determined a motive, and has taken people of interest in custody. Furthermore, U.S. Attorney James Santelle "has assured the community that his office and law enforcement will look at this case critically and ensure that the motive of this crime is thoroughly investigated." 

 

This latest murder comes in the wake of the largest tragedy in Sikh American history, and community members are openly wondering whether the murder of Dalbir Singh is connected to the massacre that took place in the same town just ten days prior. While the Sikhs of Milwaukee publicly expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support from around the world, the community does not seem entirely surprised. In fact, some individuals had privately reported that they had received additional threats.

For example, less than a week after the temple shootings, a member of the Oak Creek Sikh community stopped his car at an intersection next to a pickup truck. The driver of the truck looked at the Sikh American, manipulated his thumb and pointer-finger to make the shape of a gun, and pulled the trigger while mouthing the words "This isn't over yet." 

This sort of anecdote raises questions about the toxicity of our society. 

It also shows how much work we still have to do. 

One of our key failures is our inability to identify the source of these problems. By framing the Oak Creek massacre as an isolated incident, we delude ourselves into thinking of it as a randomized event carried out by a troubled individual. However, if we place the gurdwara shooting within its broader context, we can clearly see that it fits a troubling pattern of hate and bigotry within this country. 

But Sikh Americans are not the only targets. The anti-Muslim vitriol in this country has reached an all-time high. Hateful Americans have attacked seven mosques over the past 11 days -- some razed a mosque in Joplin, others threw pig's feet at a mosque site in California, some shot paintballs at a mosque in Oklahoma City, and still others hurled a homemade chemical bomb at a mosque outside of Chicago. 

Given the Islamophobic sentiment raging throughout modern America, we cannot afford to view the pattern of bigotry in this country as disparate, random acts. While the assailant's intent in murdering Dalbir Singh remains to be determined, the very fact that we are considering hate as a possible motive speaks volumes about the condition of our nation. We're in trouble. The nationwide desecration of mosques and the terrorizing of Sikhs in Oak Creek are symptoms of a larger problem. Determining the source of these symptoms has become an urgent and pressing need. 

We can no longer just hope for improvement. 

with thanks : Huffington Post : LINK : for detailed news.

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.