Oak Creek | | Page 5

Sign for the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, alongside memorials for the six victims of the mass shooting in August. (source: Al Jazeera)

Oak Creek, five months later

January 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Alan Fisher, of Al Jazeera, visits the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek five months after the mass shooting that took the lives of six worshipers: They decided early on the shooting would not define them or their religion, they would not been seen as victims, but instead would go out in the community and explain who they were and what their religion stood for. And they found acceptance and understanding. Read more here.

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Al Jazeera, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

The family of Satwant Singh Kaleka was honored by Sikh officials in Amritsar, India (source: demotix.com)

Family of Oak Creek, WI, shooting victim honored in Amritsar, India

January 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Having gone to India to release the ashes of Satwant Singh Kaleka, the family of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin shooting victim was honored in Amritsar, India, by Sikh officials from the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, ( “SGPC“, the central Sikh organization in India): Kaleka’s family was honoured for his exemplary courage shown during shoot out incident at Oak Kreek Gurdwara in US on August 5th 2012 where a White supremacist Wade Michael Page who had opened fire in Gurdwara killing […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, News Bits • Tags: Amritsar, hate crimes, India, Oak Creek, Punjab, Satwant Singh Kaleka, SGPC, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

"A new problem for Uncle Sam." Political cartoon c. 1910 (source: Echoes of Freedom)

The Top 5 Sikh American Stories of 2012: The Oak Creek Massacre

January 5, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It is without any doubt that the most significant event for Sikh Americans during the year 2012 occurred on August 5, when a white supremacist entered the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on a Sunday morning and opened fire on worshippers who were preparing for the day’s services. Six Sikhs — Ranjit Singh, Sita Singh, Paramjit Kaur, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Prakash Singh and Suveg Singh Khattra — were killed. Among the several others injured included Punjab Singh, who now […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Top 5 Sikh American Stories, Wisconsin

Political cartoon commenting on the "religion" of gun ownership.

WI Sikh physician reflects on gun control issue

January 4, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent opinion piece, Dr. Mohan Singh Dhariwal, a physician from Wisconsin, reflects on the mass shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and Newtown, Connecticut, and discusses the issue of gun control: As a physician, I am accustomed to listening to the pains of my patients that ravages of life bring them. I empathize with them, guide them and allow them to heal. As a Sikh American physician, I found the tables were turned when patients came into my office […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Connecticut, gun control, hate crimes, mass shootings, Mohan Singh Dhariwal, Newtown, Oak Creek, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Moving beyond “mistaken identity”

January 4, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

After the subway hate crime in New York a week ago, Laurie Patton, in Religion Dispatches, suggests an approach beyond that of education to combat hate crimes: A second focus is necessary: we might view such confusions of identity as opportunities to make common cause with other victims of hate crimes in America. The fact that Erika Menendez included both Hindus and Muslims in her rage means that both groups continue to be vulnerable in the United States. The fact […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Erika Menendez, hate crimes, Laurie Patton, mistaken identity, New York, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, subway murder, Sunando Sen, Wisconsin

Lt. Brian Murphy recounts Oak Creek attack

December 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In an interview with Esquire Magazine, Oak Creek Police Lieutenant Brian Murphy describes his confrontation with the shooter during the attack at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August, one that almost took his life: I’d gotten a chance to look him in the eye. There was nothing. Pure nothing. Not hate. Not anger. Not emotion. Now I think, How did he get to that point? He made himself to be someone who thought life didn’t mean anything. I mean, […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crimes, Lt. Brian Murphy, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Police action during the shooting attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August 2012. (source: Daily Record and Sunday Mail)

White Supremacy: The Unspoken Truth

December 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Co-blogged with Nina Chanpreet Kaur “All the talking is done and now it’s time to walk the walk / Revolution’s in the air 9mm in my hand / You can run but you can’t hide from this master plan.” (Song lyrics by Wade Michael Page’s band End Apathy) A few weeks ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) closed its investigation into the mass shooting that occurred at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August, in which six Sikhs were […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, United States Department of Justice, Wade Michael Page, White supremacy, Wisconsin

People gather outside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin for the raising of the Nishan Sahib flag a week after the mass murder that occurred there. A group of about 50 men and boys unwrapped the orange cloth covering the pole, washed the pole with water and milk and then re-wrapped it with a fresh cloth. (source: USA Today)

Victimhood in the context of chardi kala

December 26, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the shadow of the mass murder of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Simran Jeet Singh discusses the growing narrative of Sikhs as victims in American society in the context of Sikh history and tradition: A few of the prominent themes have included buzzwords such as “unprecedented,” “victimization,” and “suffering” endured by Sikhs in America. Although these buzzwords rightfully point to the challenges faced by Sikh Americans, they fail to aptly capture the spirit and attitude with which Sikhs have […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections, Sikhism • Tags: chardi kala, hate crimes, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Simran Jeet Singh, Wisconsin

IL South Asian community commemorates state anti-hate resolution

December 17, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Sunday, the South Asian community in Chicago, Illinois, came together with local and state officials at the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago to commemorate the passing of HR 1193 by the Illinois House of Representatives, an anti-hate resolution that was a collaboration between the South Asian American Public Research Institute (SAAPRI), local groups and State Representative Daniel Biss, condemning recent hate crimes against Sikhs, Muslims and other South Asians (and specifically, the mass shooting by a white supremacist in […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Chicago, Daniel Biss, HR 1193, Illinois, Illinois House of Representatives, Oak Creek, SAAPRI, Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, South Asian American Public Research Institute, Wisconsin

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Oak Creek