SIKHS CONTINUE FACING THE NEGATIVE REBOUND OF ISLAMISM

The hate fueled Neo-Nazi Wade Michael Page, who killed six people and critically wounded three at a Sikh Gurdwara (temple) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin earlier this month is likely to have thought his victims were Muslims.

Long beards and turbans often cause Sikhs to be mistaken for members of the Muslim community. In the wake of 9/11 the first person murdered in a series of retaliatory attacks was a Sikh, Mesa gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi. On arrest his murderer, Frank Roque was reported to have told authorities “I am a patriot.”Wisconsin is just the latest case of bigotry and violence directed at the Sikhs who have by and large suffered a backlash in silence.

The Wisconsin massacre highlights an ongoing struggle faced by practitioners of the world’s fifth largest faith: Ignorance about Sikhs and their identity is propagated by the misconception that their turbans and beards equate to the attire of jihadists who want to annihilate western civilization. Sikh human rights groups have reported a rise in bias attacks since September 11. The Washington-based Sikh Coalition has reported more than 700 incidents in the U.S. since 9/11, which advocates blame on anti-Islamic sentiment.

When the US the presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave condolences to the friends and families of those mercilessly gunned down in Wisconsin, he inadvertently made reference to ‘Sheikhs’.  A day after the massacre, the head of the US Air Force Academy Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, superintendent of the Colorado Springs military school, a highly educated official, confused Sikhs with Muslims, whilst addressing his subordinates. He referred to the killings having taken place in a “Sikh Mosque”.These two high profile gaffes highlight an underlying problem.

Here in Britain, Sikhs have largely avoided a backlash equal to the tumult seen across the Atlantic. Largely thanks to the rich Anglo-Sikh military tradition spawned after the sepoy mutiny (1857), work of organisations such as the Interfaith-Network and the presence of prominent Sikhs in the public eye. There is no doubt firearm laws in Britain are an important factor.

Sikhs in Britain, unlike those in the US are very much embedded into the British cultural mosaic. In an episode of the 1980’s sitcom Only Fools and Horses, an angry Sikh customer reprimands the Trotters, after “Del Boy” sells him some dodgy paint. When Del sees Mr. Singh on a moped without a crash helmet, he announces his latest invention: ‘Trotters crash Turbans.’

Notwithstanding, a Sikh Temple in Kent was firebombed after the London bombings and low-level harassment such as the jibes “Taliban” or “Bin Laden” are commonplace. Worse still, some have been violently attacked.

As far as world religions go, Sikhism is the new kid on the block, founded in 1469 in Punjab, India. Sikhism is monotheistic, believing in the equality of all of mankind. This isn’t just lip service, go to any Gurdwara anywhere in the world and you can get a free vegetarian meal or langar. The founder Guru Nanak, the first of 10 spiritual leaders, rejected the Hindu caste system and discrimination against women by India’s Muslim rulers, in favor of a universal brotherhood and equality for all. Sikh teachings explicitly state, "recognise the human race as one." The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh in the face Islamist bigotry, established the Khalsa or brotherhood of the pure. Part spiritual part self-defense, those men baptised into this military fraternity were named Singh or lion and women Kaur or princess.

This month saw the murder of yet another Sikh man in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. News of the latest murder came when Police in Elk Grove, California, announced they were looking for possible links between temple shooting and murder of two elderly Sikhs last year. There is hope on the horizon: members of the US House of Representatives introduced a resolution condemning hate crimes against Sikh Americans, supporting the community's demand that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) track such crimes. Sikhs worldwide were encouraged when the Whitehouse lowered its flag half-mast. In another unprecedented development the First Lady Michelle Obama visited families of Sikh worshippers who were killed or injured.

While Sikhs remember those slain in Wisconsin, there is a need for the community to look outward, not just inward. It’s incumbent to reach out to the families of those murdered and injured in the ‘Batman’ Colorado shooting spree and more recently, victims in New York. In Oak Creek a single bullet hole remains in the temple. Whilst reminding us of those murdered, the sign below it equally epitomizes Sikh teachings “we are all one.”

Hardeep Singh is a freelance journalist and broadcaster, Press Secretary for the Network of Sikh Organisations

[the article was originally published in the Sikh Messenger]