US gurudwar attack shocks nation
7 Aug 2012 7:08 AM IST
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed shock over the shooting at a gurudwara in the US and hoped that authorities there would ensure 'conditions' that such violent acts were not repeated. The attack has shocked the nation, especially Punjab and other places where Sikh population lives in sizeable numbers.
The prime minister said what was more painful was the fact that this 'senseless act of violence' should be targeted at a religious place. 'We hope that the authorities will reach out to the grieving families and ensure conditions that such violent acts are not repeated in the future,' Prime Minister Singh said in a statement.
Six people were killed in the attack on the gurudwara during the Sunday morning prayers in Wisconsin by at least one gunman who was shot dead.
An anguished Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal asked the prime minister to take up with the Obama administration the issue of safety and security of Sikhs living in the US, while the Sikh religious leadership said that the attack by a lone white gunman was a security lapse on the part of US government.
Condemning the attack, the external affairs minister S M Krishna said that it does not fit into the proclaimed policies of the US.
Reaching out to the Sikh community, the US ambassador to India Nancy Powell offered prayers at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi and said that the incident would be probed thoroughly.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an in-depth probe into the shooting incident that unfolded at around 10:30 pm IST last night as members of the Sikh community were gathering at the 15-year-old Gurudwara in Milwaukee’s Oak Creek suburb.
The gunman, who has been described in media reports as an army veteran in his 40’s who could be a ‘skin head’ or ‘white supremacist’, walked into the Gurudwara and opened indiscriminate firing, killing six people, leading to speculation that the incident could be a case of racism.
In total three people were injured in the incident. The mayhem could have engulfed more people but for local police officers who shot dead the gunman, having many tattoos including a 9/11 one, even as one of them suffered serious wounds.
‘It is the most deadly US attack on Sikhs – who often have been mistaken for Muslims and targeted in hate crimes – in recent memory,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said.
FBI, who did not identify the shooter said it is yet to identify the motive behind the senseless killing.
‘While the FBI is investigating whether this matter might be an act of domestic terrorism, no motive has been determined at this time,’ the FBI Milwaukee Special Agent-in-Charge Teresa Carlson said in a statement.
The FBI is working closely with the Oak Creek Police Department and other local and federal agencies to investigate Sunday’s shooting incident, Carlson said.
‘We know our community has been deeply impacted by this incident, and our thoughts are with those affected and particularly with the officer who was wounded in the line of duty to protect others,’ the FBI said.
Tattoos on the body of the slain gunman and certain biographical details led the FBI to treat the attack at a Milwaukee-area temple as an act of domestic terrorism, Los Angeles Times said quoting sources. Eyewitness have said that the shooter had a ‘9/11’ tattoo.
Few details emerged about the man whose Cudahy duplex apartment was searched by police hours after the shooting.
The owner of the house that was searched described the tenant as a white, single, in his 40s and an Army veteran, the Journal Sentinel said.
ABC News as well as CNN, citing unnamed sources, said they were told that the shootings were the work of a ‘white supremacist’ or ‘skinhead’.
The US assured India that the tragic incident will be fully investigated, Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao said.
She said the US Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan spoke to her from White House on Sunday to convey ‘sincerest condolences’ from US President Barack Obama.
‘Brennan assured me these tragic killings would be fully investigated, that Sikh community is precious part of fabric of American nation,’ she wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Soon after the incident, Obama reviewed the security situation with his top national security aides and called on Gurudwara trustee to offer his condolences.
‘Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin,’ Obama said in a statement.
A law enforcement official told NBC News the gunman was dressed in a white T-shirt and black tactical-style pants, which had several pockets for holding ammunition magazines. He was armed with a single handgun, the official said.
The carnage came as the nation is still reeling from a mass shooting two weeks ago in which a gunman killed 12 people and injured 58 at a movie theater in Aurora.
Sikh men tend to stand out because of their beards and colorful turbans and are sometimes confused with Muslims and viewed with suspicion. After the attacks of 11 September 2001, there were scattered reports nationwide of harassment or attacks on Sikhs, including the killing of an unarmed man in Phoenix.
‘SHAME ON YOU, US!’
In the wake of the shooting incident at a gurudwara in the US, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up with the Obama administration the issue of safety and security of Sikhs living in America.
Badal also called for a comprehensive administrative and social campaign to eliminate the possibility of recurrence of such tragic incidents.
Deputy Chief Minister and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the External Affairs ministry to widen its diplomatic response to cover other nations where the Sikhs were residing and contributing in a significant way to their progress.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said ‘there is a growing feeling in the minds of Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular that the Union government must get more actively and vigorously involved in getting the US administration address the issue of safety in right earnest.’
‘There is also a strong feeling among the Sikh masses about the need for a comprehensive awareness campaign by the US government about the identity and the highly constructive role of the Sikh community in that country,’ he said.
‘Such an initiative should have been taken immediately after violent attacks against members of the Sikh community in the wake of 9/11. Unfortunately, no steps in this direction seem to have been taken,’ the Chief Minister said.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh condemned the shooting incident and hoped the US government would punish the guilty at the earliest.
The SGPC, apex religious body of the Sikhs, described the shooting as a condemnable criminal act and urged the Prime Minister to take up with authorities the issue of safety of the minority community.
A gunman opened fire inside a gurudwara in Wisconsin in the US yesterday killing six people.
In his letter, the Chief Minister said members of the Sikh community had been living peacefully in various parts of the world, including the US, for centuries.
The Sikhs in America had been in the vanguard of social and economic progress of the country, the Chief Minister said. ‘The tragic incident in the gurudwara is all the more painful and difficult to understand in the background of the outstanding role played by the peaceful Sikh community in the American success story,’ he said.
The Chief Minister said ‘there are two issues that require effective and pro-active response from the government of India.’
‘The first, of course, is the immediate task of dealing with the aftermath of Sunday’s tragedy.
In Amritsar, Sikhs from different walks of life met SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar to express concern over the incident. They requested Makkar to adopt a constructive line of action to extend help to affected Sikhs in US. Makkar offered financial help of Rs two lakh each to the two Sikh preachers killed in the shooting.
US ENVOY OFFERS CONDOLENCES
US ambassador Nancy Powell Monday met Sikh leaders here to express grief over the killing of six people in a gurdwara in Wisconsin.
Powell called on the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee to voice her and her government's sorrow over the wanton killings Sunday when a gunman opened fire at the Sikh temple.
‘Nancy Powell met us and offered condolences on behalf of President Barack Obama. She expressed grave concern over the issue,’ Sardar Paramjit Singh Sarna said. Powell, who visited the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib here, assured the support of the US to the Sikh community in her country.
‘She assured us that steps will be taken to ensure no such incidents take place in the future,’ Sarna said. The US envoy also promised a full probe.
‘The US through the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as local police will conduct a thorough investigation into this crime,’ Powell told reporters here.
A statement from the US embassy also expressed condolences to the Sikh communities in the US and India.
‘We are deeply saddened by the senseless loss of lives and injuries caused by the Aug 5 shooting. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families,’ said the statement.
The prime minister said what was more painful was the fact that this 'senseless act of violence' should be targeted at a religious place. 'We hope that the authorities will reach out to the grieving families and ensure conditions that such violent acts are not repeated in the future,' Prime Minister Singh said in a statement.
Six people were killed in the attack on the gurudwara during the Sunday morning prayers in Wisconsin by at least one gunman who was shot dead.
An anguished Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal asked the prime minister to take up with the Obama administration the issue of safety and security of Sikhs living in the US, while the Sikh religious leadership said that the attack by a lone white gunman was a security lapse on the part of US government.
Condemning the attack, the external affairs minister S M Krishna said that it does not fit into the proclaimed policies of the US.
Reaching out to the Sikh community, the US ambassador to India Nancy Powell offered prayers at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi and said that the incident would be probed thoroughly.
FBI LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION
The FBI has launched a probe into the massacre of six people inside a Gurudwara in Wisconsin, described as the deadliest attack against the Sikh community in the US, as authorities termed the shooting spree of the lone white gunman as ‘domestic terrorism’.- Gurudwara shooter had 9/11 tattoo: the gunman who went on a killing spree inside a Gurudwara in Wisconsin was a ‘white man with a 9/11 tattoo’ on his arm, according to eyewitnesses.
- The six victims of the senseless shootout have been described as loving, dedicated and deeply religious people. Among those killed was Parkash Singh, a priest who was described as quiet and gentle.
- FBI is tight-lipped about the identity of the shooter behind the gruesome killing, but media reports say he was a white army veteran in his 40’s and possibly a ‘skin head’ or ‘white supremacist’.
- Police have searched the suspect’s home, ‘a short distance’ from the gurudwara, and a single 9mm semi-automatic pistol, believed to have been used by the gunman, was found at the scene.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an in-depth probe into the shooting incident that unfolded at around 10:30 pm IST last night as members of the Sikh community were gathering at the 15-year-old Gurudwara in Milwaukee’s Oak Creek suburb.
The gunman, who has been described in media reports as an army veteran in his 40’s who could be a ‘skin head’ or ‘white supremacist’, walked into the Gurudwara and opened indiscriminate firing, killing six people, leading to speculation that the incident could be a case of racism.
In total three people were injured in the incident. The mayhem could have engulfed more people but for local police officers who shot dead the gunman, having many tattoos including a 9/11 one, even as one of them suffered serious wounds.
‘It is the most deadly US attack on Sikhs – who often have been mistaken for Muslims and targeted in hate crimes – in recent memory,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said.
FBI, who did not identify the shooter said it is yet to identify the motive behind the senseless killing.
‘While the FBI is investigating whether this matter might be an act of domestic terrorism, no motive has been determined at this time,’ the FBI Milwaukee Special Agent-in-Charge Teresa Carlson said in a statement.
The FBI is working closely with the Oak Creek Police Department and other local and federal agencies to investigate Sunday’s shooting incident, Carlson said.
‘We know our community has been deeply impacted by this incident, and our thoughts are with those affected and particularly with the officer who was wounded in the line of duty to protect others,’ the FBI said.
Tattoos on the body of the slain gunman and certain biographical details led the FBI to treat the attack at a Milwaukee-area temple as an act of domestic terrorism, Los Angeles Times said quoting sources. Eyewitness have said that the shooter had a ‘9/11’ tattoo.
Few details emerged about the man whose Cudahy duplex apartment was searched by police hours after the shooting.
The owner of the house that was searched described the tenant as a white, single, in his 40s and an Army veteran, the Journal Sentinel said.
ABC News as well as CNN, citing unnamed sources, said they were told that the shootings were the work of a ‘white supremacist’ or ‘skinhead’.
The US assured India that the tragic incident will be fully investigated, Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao said.
She said the US Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan spoke to her from White House on Sunday to convey ‘sincerest condolences’ from US President Barack Obama.
‘Brennan assured me these tragic killings would be fully investigated, that Sikh community is precious part of fabric of American nation,’ she wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
Soon after the incident, Obama reviewed the security situation with his top national security aides and called on Gurudwara trustee to offer his condolences.
‘Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin,’ Obama said in a statement.
A law enforcement official told NBC News the gunman was dressed in a white T-shirt and black tactical-style pants, which had several pockets for holding ammunition magazines. He was armed with a single handgun, the official said.
The carnage came as the nation is still reeling from a mass shooting two weeks ago in which a gunman killed 12 people and injured 58 at a movie theater in Aurora.
Sikh men tend to stand out because of their beards and colorful turbans and are sometimes confused with Muslims and viewed with suspicion. After the attacks of 11 September 2001, there were scattered reports nationwide of harassment or attacks on Sikhs, including the killing of an unarmed man in Phoenix.
‘SHAME ON YOU, US!’
In the wake of the shooting incident at a gurudwara in the US, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up with the Obama administration the issue of safety and security of Sikhs living in America.
Badal also called for a comprehensive administrative and social campaign to eliminate the possibility of recurrence of such tragic incidents.
Deputy Chief Minister and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the External Affairs ministry to widen its diplomatic response to cover other nations where the Sikhs were residing and contributing in a significant way to their progress.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said ‘there is a growing feeling in the minds of Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular that the Union government must get more actively and vigorously involved in getting the US administration address the issue of safety in right earnest.’
‘There is also a strong feeling among the Sikh masses about the need for a comprehensive awareness campaign by the US government about the identity and the highly constructive role of the Sikh community in that country,’ he said.
‘Such an initiative should have been taken immediately after violent attacks against members of the Sikh community in the wake of 9/11. Unfortunately, no steps in this direction seem to have been taken,’ the Chief Minister said.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh condemned the shooting incident and hoped the US government would punish the guilty at the earliest.
The SGPC, apex religious body of the Sikhs, described the shooting as a condemnable criminal act and urged the Prime Minister to take up with authorities the issue of safety of the minority community.
A gunman opened fire inside a gurudwara in Wisconsin in the US yesterday killing six people.
In his letter, the Chief Minister said members of the Sikh community had been living peacefully in various parts of the world, including the US, for centuries.
The Sikhs in America had been in the vanguard of social and economic progress of the country, the Chief Minister said. ‘The tragic incident in the gurudwara is all the more painful and difficult to understand in the background of the outstanding role played by the peaceful Sikh community in the American success story,’ he said.
The Chief Minister said ‘there are two issues that require effective and pro-active response from the government of India.’
‘The first, of course, is the immediate task of dealing with the aftermath of Sunday’s tragedy.
In Amritsar, Sikhs from different walks of life met SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar to express concern over the incident. They requested Makkar to adopt a constructive line of action to extend help to affected Sikhs in US. Makkar offered financial help of Rs two lakh each to the two Sikh preachers killed in the shooting.
US ENVOY OFFERS CONDOLENCES
US ambassador Nancy Powell Monday met Sikh leaders here to express grief over the killing of six people in a gurdwara in Wisconsin.
Powell called on the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee to voice her and her government's sorrow over the wanton killings Sunday when a gunman opened fire at the Sikh temple.
‘Nancy Powell met us and offered condolences on behalf of President Barack Obama. She expressed grave concern over the issue,’ Sardar Paramjit Singh Sarna said. Powell, who visited the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib here, assured the support of the US to the Sikh community in her country.
‘She assured us that steps will be taken to ensure no such incidents take place in the future,’ Sarna said. The US envoy also promised a full probe.
‘The US through the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as local police will conduct a thorough investigation into this crime,’ Powell told reporters here.
A statement from the US embassy also expressed condolences to the Sikh communities in the US and India.
‘We are deeply saddened by the senseless loss of lives and injuries caused by the Aug 5 shooting. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families,’ said the statement.
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