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Surveillance video capture of men robbing the donation box at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Livingston, California, early Sunday morning. (source: Merced Sun-Star)

Overnight armed robbery of Livingston, CA, Gurdwara

January 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“I was in Fresno when I got the call,” Samra said. “The first thing that flashed in my mind was Wisconsin, right away.” — Livingston, California’s Mayor Pro Tem Gurpal Samra comments on the overnight armed robbery at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Livingston, California. Three men entered the Gurdwara in the early hours of Sunday morning to steal money from the Gurdwara’s donation box. Worshippers were present in the Gurdwara but no one was reported hurt. Read more […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: armed robbery, California, Gurpal Samra, Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, Livingston, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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Snatam Kaur (source: YouTube user sopurkh)

Snatam Kaur’s “I am a Sikh”

January 30, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the video above, spiritual vocalist Snatam Kaur provides an overview of the Sikh faith. The beautifully narrated video is filmed at the Gurdwara in Bridgewater, New Jersey and is dedicated to the Sikhs who were murdered at the Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin last August: In the honor and memory of those people who lost their lives at the Oak Creek Wisconsin Gurdwara (Sikh temple) shooting in the summer of 2012. Snatam Kaur, along with the Sikh community of […]

Categories: Sikhism • Tags: Bridgewater, New Jersey, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Snatam Kaur, Wisconsin

White hate self portrait (source: Mr. Fish/truthdig)

Is white supremacy in the US on the cusp of a renaissance?

January 28, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On truthdig, Chris Hedges examines the “disquieting renaissance” of white supremacy in the southern United States (via @jakaramovement): The steady rise of ethnic nationalism over the past decade, the replacing of history with mendacious and sanitized versions of lost glory, is part of the moral decay that infects a dying culture. It is a frightening attempt, by those who are desperate and trapped, to escape through invented history their despair, impoverishment and hopelessness. It breeds intolerance and eventually violence. Violence […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Chris Hedges, hate crimes, Ku Klux Klan, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, slavery, Southern United States, White supremacy, Wisconsin

The Southern Poverty Law Center counted 1,018 active hate groups in the United States in 2011. (source: Southern Poverty Law Center)

The Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Map

January 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a “nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society,” counted 1,018 hate groups in the United States in 2011: This list was compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports. Hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting or publishing. Websites appearing to be merely the work of […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reports/Studies, Resources • Tags: California, Elk Grove, Gurmej Atwal, hate crime, Hate Crime Statistics, hate groups, New Jersey, New York, Oak Creek, Sacramento, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Southern Poverty Law Center, Surinder Singh, Wisconsin

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Oak Creek, WI, shooting victim Punjab Singh shows small signs of recovery

January 20, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article from the Associated Press describes the slow process of the recovery of Punjab Singh, one of the surviving victims of last August’s Oak Creek, Wisconsin, shooting attack by a white supremacist: Every day they repeated the word “waheguru” (pronounced VAH’-hay-goo-roo) and watched for a response. For weeks there was nothing. Then on Jan. 9 he began to move his mouth, apparently trying several times to say the word. The next day he tried 30 times. In coming days, […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crimes, Oak Creek, Punjab Singh, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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"President Obama signs gun-violence-related executive actions following an announcement at the White House Wedensday." (source: CNN)

Gun control is about more than gun rights

January 16, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In recognizing Religious Freedom Day, President Obama made a proclamation that celebrated the right to religious freedom in the United States: Because of the protections guaranteed by our Constitution, each of us has the right to practice our faith openly and as we choose. As a free country, our story has been shaped by every language and enriched by every culture. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, Sikhs and non-believers. Our patchwork heritage is a […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Barack Obama, gun control, gun violence, Oak Creek, Religious Freedom Day, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

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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

Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

Overnight armed robbery of Livingston, CA, Gurdwara

Snatam Kaur’s “I am a Sikh”

Is white supremacy in the US on the cusp of a renaissance?

The Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Map

Oak Creek, WI, shooting victim Punjab Singh shows small signs of recovery

Gun control is about more than gun rights

Oak Creek, five months later

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

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