WAIPOULI — Three Sikh visitors from Texas said they were enjoying the natural beauty of Kaua‘i’s beaches and mountains on Sunday, when they were stunned by news that a gunman had killed six and wounded four at a Sikh temple
WAIPOULI — Three Sikh visitors from Texas said they were enjoying the natural beauty of Kaua‘i’s beaches and mountains on Sunday, when they were stunned by news that a gunman had killed six and wounded four at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis.
Tejinder Ahuja, a nephrologist from Houston, his spouse Harleen, and daughter Sahej, were enjoying the second day of their vacation when they heard the devastating news.
“The idea of targeting innocent people that have nothing to do with your issues is, I think, the greatest act of cowardice there is,” said Harleen at the Coffee Bean on Tuesday. “If you have an angst against any person, there is a civilized way to take care of it.”
Wade Michael Page killed six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee on Sunday in a rampage, before being wounded by a police officer and then taking his own life, according to The Associated Press.
That Page, an Army veteran and a white supremacist, chose to shoot indiscriminately at a Sikh gurdwara (house of God) was especially disturbing to the Ahuja family.
“So basically, just being different was enough for him,” she said. “This is a Hitler mentality that when things go wrong in life it’s a lot easier to blame someone else, and usually a minority, than to look inside, take responsibility and act to turn your life around.”
Tejinder was raised in northern India and moved to Houston in 1996. When Sikhs began to get attacked and killed in backlash incidents around the country after 9/11, Tejinder organized talks for hospital staff when some equated Sikhism with terrorism.
“I think it’s a lot of ignorance,” Tejinder said. “I believe that there is a mistaken identity, there is no doubt about it.”
The Sikh Empire defended against the Mughol invasions and conversion of the Indian subcontinent in the 17th century. But Sikhism does not condemn Islam and welcomes all faiths, Tejinder said.
“I have nothing against Islam,” he said. “The foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritzar was laid by a Muslim (Pir Buddhu Shah).”
The temple has four doors facing each north, south, east and west, he said. It is to signify openness to welcome people of all faiths and castes, with prayers for blessings and grace to all humankind.
“When you grow up with that mentality to be open-minded, you don’t have to agree with someone’s beliefs to respect them,” Harleen said.
“If you grow up with that mentality then it is difficult to see others wanting to shut you down.”
That people would equate Sikhs as being from the Middle East, a Muslim or a terrorist, is painful to Sikhs who comprise the world’s fifth-largest religion, he said.
Sikh means seeker of truth and was developed to include people of all castes.
A secular country has a great responsibility with protecting the rights of the minority, he said.
A country will be stable and happy even if wrongs are committed against minorities when there is a common belief that religious rivalries and preaching hatred is wrong.
Many World War II veterans remember the Sikh soldiers as rescuers and approach him all the time, he said.
“It’s sad,” Harleen said. “Hopefully there will be a lot of good come from this so that those people didn’t die in vain.”
Harleen was born in India but raised in Queens, NY. As a child she recalled smoke bombs being put in their front door mail slot, and letters saying “Foreigners go back to where you came from.”
Harleen said it’s the beauty of America to become a citizen and be able to be who you want to be. When people treat her differently, she said it’s as if they say “you aren’t what you thought you were.”
“The founding of this country is based on the idea of religious freedom,” she said.
“When we are treated that way it is a shock to the system. We are operating under that sense that we belong here. That is because for the most part in our day we feel that and that is not only from us but also from our neighbors and surroundings.”
There is great pride in Sikh identity, but she said it hurts that people see them and say “terrorist.”
The Sikh Coalition in New York documented more than 300 cases of violence and discrimination against Sikh Americans since 9/11.
Recent hate attacks include the 2011 murders of Gurmej Singh Atwal and Surinder Singh in Elk Grove, Calif.
A Sikh-owned convenience store in North Carolina was firebombed the same year.
In 2012, a Sikh Gurdwara was desecrated in Sterling Heights, Mich. Hate-motivated death threats also were mailed to a Sikh family in Sterling, Va.
The organization also solicited reports from Sikh Americans on less violent but serious problems of workplace discrimination, racial or religious profiling, and school bullying.
The Ahujas recall the two principals of their daughter’s grammar school who worked to educate the student body on the background of all the students. Events featured faiths, language, culture and cuisine in a way that was inclusive.
It was sad that Sahej had to face prejudice herself in the third grade to bring about these changes, said Harleen.
“It’s still a shock to the system,” she said. “The school and guidance counselors were amazing and these are opportunities to educate.”
A Sikh Coalition video presentation shows college students being asked to view photos of three Sikhs with turbans wearing the military uniforms of Great Britain, India, Canada and the United States.
The students were asked what they thought the Sikhs were and what they did for a living.
“They replied ‘terrorists,’ ” said Harleen. “They thought they were making bombs for living.”
Tejinder said he expects to be pointed out and taken aside at airports. He said fellow travelers console him and say “Don’t mind them, they don’t know you’re a Sikh.”
“I honestly never minded that as long as they are professional in how they go about what they are going,” he said. “I just want the other passengers to feel comfortable.”
