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Kanwal Prakash (KP) Singh....Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

 

"Local Sikh leader reacts to Wisconsin Temple shooting"

Along with the entire Sikh world, we in Indiana are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life at the Sikh Gurudwara in Milwaukee, Wisconsin yesterday.

Countless Americans, faith leaders including the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis, civic leaders, Honorable Greg Ballard's office, Honorable Governor Mitch Daniels, Home land Security Officials, law
enforcement officials, and others have shared expression of sympathies and solidarity over the shooting at a Sikh Temple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The members of the Sikh Temple here knew several of the victims.

Any loss of innocent life is a sad event. When it happens at a place of worship where people peacefully gather for prayer, to offer thanks, and to celebrate special events and blessings, then it is a grave tragedy. The
shooting in Milwaukee Sikh Temple was an act of senseless outrage against innocent people that has shattered many lives.

As many have expressed that we must work to dispel this darkness of mistaken identity, unprovoked violence, and hate crimes against people that are different from us and our experiences. The first most important task is to educate ourselves to be effective spokespersons and open the lines of communication with other faiths, civic leaders, educational leaders, and law enforcement officials to advance our common visions and commitments to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

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This event and many others after 9/11 tell us how little our neighbors know about their neighbors who aren't like them.  A positive response that seems most productive may be to expedite public efforts of inter-religious engagements within and among our neighbors throughout North America. Only education can dispel ignorance.

Harbans Lal

Harbans Lal, PhD., D.Litt(hons)

Emeritus Professor and Chair, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, U. North Texas Health Science Center

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Every second or third month I am (along with two representatives from other faiths) invited to comment (in 300 words or less) and offer the Sikh faith perspective on an issue of current interest outlined by the newspaper staff. This week's Faith Forum it is about Whitney Houston's death in which her drug and alcohol addiction may have played a major part. I hope that as leaders in your communities, you may find the subject of urgent interest since it is devastating millions of lives in the USA, Punjab, and around the world.

Without treading on any of your individual and collective perspectives as to how to advance the Sikh diaspora in our new and changing environment, I suggest (and many of you may already be vigorously engaged in this area) that we should, along with all the instructions about faith, cultural, religious, interfaith, environmental, and humanitarian concerns, consider including discussions by experts on this matter at our religious gatherings and in special forums to safeguard our communities, specially our youth, from the rampant epidemic of substance/drug abuse. Any initiatives that we take in this regard would be a timely and welcome step and may save a future heartache and tragedy for one of our own brothers or sisters.
We pray that we can do something before that happens.

With kind regards and thank you for your continued involvements to advance the work of building a better future for all of us.

KP Singh