Sikhs in New Orleans gather to pray for Milwaukee shooting victims
Published: Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Dozens of Sikh men and women, members of a tiny and barely visible New Orleans religious minority, gathered at their temple in eastern New Orleans Wednesday to pray for six Sikh men and women shot by a gunman at a similar temple outside Milwaukee on Sunday. Segregated by gender — men, many in turbans, on the right, women under head scarves on the left — members of the community sat on the floor of their temple, or gurudwara, on Morrison Road as their priest, Bhai Nirmal Singh, led them in prayers and hymns and read in Punjabi from Sikh scripture, the Siriguru Granth Sahib.
“We will offer prayers that the souls of these people rest in peace,” Jasjit Singh Walia, a retired Loyola University chemistry professor and former president of the Sikh Society of the South, said before the ceremony.
“And we also pray for the wisdom, peace and strength to help their families bear this unbearable loss. And for them to accept the divine order. We believe that whatever happens, happens under God’s will.”
Navdeep Singh Chawla, the current president of the Sikh society, said some members may have traveled to the service from communities like Slidell and Hammond, as well as New Orleans.
There are about 100 Sikh families in the region, he said.
Chawla said the Wisconsin shootings, coupled with the July 20 mass shooting that killed 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., have left the small community deeply unsettled — partly because of the unpredictable violence of American culture, and partly because the Wisconsin shootings may well have singled out Sikhs in particular.
“This is a heartless and senseless tragedy,” Walia said. “Not just for our sakes, but for the whole of America. We can’t really put into words the unease we feel.”
Authorities said they do not yet understand why Wade Michael Page burst into the Sikh temple in suburban Oak Creek and fatally shot six men and women before taking his own life.
However, authorities said Page has extensive links to the white supremacist universe.
“What place is safe?” Chawla asked before the ceremony.
Five deputies from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office stood watch outside the temple.
Among those at the ritual was Ujjal DasGupta, the president of an engineering firm in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Although a Hindu himself, DasGupta said he attended in solidarity to Sikhs.
“Absolutely. We are brothers and sisters,” he said.
Near the end of the ceremony, the men and women lit candles, carried them out into the night and placed them around the base of a flag pole flying the khanda, the symbol of Sikhism.
The candles, Walia said, symbolized Sikhs’ determination to push back the darkness with the light of their own peaceable souls.
In the aftermath of the shootings, Chawla said local Sikh leaders are asking whether it would be profitable to meet with local education and political leaders.
“They need to do something to change the environment, to teach young people about the diversity of people and cultures in America so people won’t feel insecure about other religions,” Chawla said.
He said he was touched that President Obama ordered flags lowered to half-staff over federal property through Friday. The governors of several states, like Wisconsin, New Jersey and Virginia have ordered the same.
Louisiana state flags apparently fly normally.
Sikhism, founded in what is now Pakistan in the 15th century, combines elements of Hinduism and Islam.
Three central practices are worship, sharing wealth, and earning one’s living with one’s own hands, said Walia’s wife, Parveen Singh Walia
It also preaches love, selfless service and human equality, said Walia, although Sikhism also embodies a warrior culture traditionally deployed on behalf of the poor or defenseless.
Sikh means “lion,” and at the temple ritual Walia noted that one of the Wisconsin victims, Satwant Singh Kaleka, the 65-year-old president of the Milwaukee temple, was killed attacking Page with the only thing at hand, a butter knife.
Although Sikhs believe in reincarnation, that destiny is left for those whose lives on earth are wanting.
“If our actions and our deeds in the present life are not right then we are given another chance to come back and make our life better. Hopefully at the end of that life, we find union with God.”
Parveen Singh Walia said the six slain people in Wisconsin are martyrs, having died in a holy place apparently because they were Sikhs.
“We cannot rubber stamp anything, but we believe the way they passed away — their souls should merge with the divine soul.”
As for Page’s destiny, Walia said Sikhism professes no analogue to Christian hell.
“Our faith believes in forgiveness. We don’t know what his motive was. But final judgment is in the divine hands. Leave it to God.”
EnlargeRUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Members of the Sikh community light candles and place them at the Nishan Sahib at Gurudwara Sahib, New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana, Wednesday, August 8, 2012. The local Sikh community gathered for a mourning service following an attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin recently.Sikhs in New Orleans mourn shooting outside Milwaukee gallery (7 photos)
“And we also pray for the wisdom, peace and strength to help their families bear this unbearable loss. And for them to accept the divine order. We believe that whatever happens, happens under God’s will.”
Navdeep Singh Chawla, the current president of the Sikh society, said some members may have traveled to the service from communities like Slidell and Hammond, as well as New Orleans.
There are about 100 Sikh families in the region, he said.
Chawla said the Wisconsin shootings, coupled with the July 20 mass shooting that killed 12 people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., have left the small community deeply unsettled — partly because of the unpredictable violence of American culture, and partly because the Wisconsin shootings may well have singled out Sikhs in particular.
“This is a heartless and senseless tragedy,” Walia said. “Not just for our sakes, but for the whole of America. We can’t really put into words the unease we feel.”
Authorities said they do not yet understand why Wade Michael Page burst into the Sikh temple in suburban Oak Creek and fatally shot six men and women before taking his own life.
However, authorities said Page has extensive links to the white supremacist universe.
“What place is safe?” Chawla asked before the ceremony.
Five deputies from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office stood watch outside the temple.
Among those at the ritual was Ujjal DasGupta, the president of an engineering firm in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Although a Hindu himself, DasGupta said he attended in solidarity to Sikhs.
“Absolutely. We are brothers and sisters,” he said.
Near the end of the ceremony, the men and women lit candles, carried them out into the night and placed them around the base of a flag pole flying the khanda, the symbol of Sikhism.
The candles, Walia said, symbolized Sikhs’ determination to push back the darkness with the light of their own peaceable souls.
In the aftermath of the shootings, Chawla said local Sikh leaders are asking whether it would be profitable to meet with local education and political leaders.
“They need to do something to change the environment, to teach young people about the diversity of people and cultures in America so people won’t feel insecure about other religions,” Chawla said.
He said he was touched that President Obama ordered flags lowered to half-staff over federal property through Friday. The governors of several states, like Wisconsin, New Jersey and Virginia have ordered the same.
Louisiana state flags apparently fly normally.
Sikhism, founded in what is now Pakistan in the 15th century, combines elements of Hinduism and Islam.
Three central practices are worship, sharing wealth, and earning one’s living with one’s own hands, said Walia’s wife, Parveen Singh Walia
It also preaches love, selfless service and human equality, said Walia, although Sikhism also embodies a warrior culture traditionally deployed on behalf of the poor or defenseless.
Sikh means “lion,” and at the temple ritual Walia noted that one of the Wisconsin victims, Satwant Singh Kaleka, the 65-year-old president of the Milwaukee temple, was killed attacking Page with the only thing at hand, a butter knife.
Although Sikhs believe in reincarnation, that destiny is left for those whose lives on earth are wanting.
“If our actions and our deeds in the present life are not right then we are given another chance to come back and make our life better. Hopefully at the end of that life, we find union with God.”
Parveen Singh Walia said the six slain people in Wisconsin are martyrs, having died in a holy place apparently because they were Sikhs.
“We cannot rubber stamp anything, but we believe the way they passed away — their souls should merge with the divine soul.”
As for Page’s destiny, Walia said Sikhism professes no analogue to Christian hell.
“Our faith believes in forgiveness. We don’t know what his motive was. But final judgment is in the divine hands. Leave it to God.”
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