Sometimes we feel God isn't listening. Or wonder why He makes certain things happen.
It is deeply saddening to me that I am writing another post in response to a massacre. A crime committed through gun violence, and so much hate.
This time, it was directed at members of the same religion as me: Sikhism. A way of life. A religion that preaches equality amongst its members, with men and women sitting side by side. A religion where your standing in society means nothing; everyone sits on the same ground during prayers, and is served the same food afterwards. It doesn't matter whether you are the Queen of England, or homeless.
It is unfortunate that there is so much misunderstanding about our identity, especially after 9/11. I don't agree with the targeting of Muslims after the attacks, but what is disheartening is how Sikhs have been entangled seamlessly in this vicious cycle of hate that has been multiplying over the last 11 years.
Did you know it was a SIKH who was killed in the first deadly hate crime post-9/11? Did you know his name was Balbir Singh Sodhi, and that he was shot in the back as he laid flowers and American Flags in front of his gas station? His act of honoring the victims made him into another victim.
A SIKH. His identity misunderstood because of his beard and turban... the turban is a religious symbol for us. It is NOT tied in the same manner as Osama Bin Laden's. And Bin Laden's turban sure didn't have the same meaning of humility before God as the Sikh turban does.
So what sense can I make of this?
It seems the only conclusion is that this is God's cry to just STOP THE HATE! There have been isolated cases here and there, of students being harassed at schools, to violence being committed against my people who are so brave to don the turban day in and day out and are willing to stand out in this country. We have taken small steps as Sikhs to try to educate others on our religion. My friend, Simran Gill, and I had even hosted an event several years back in response to hate directed at a Sikh student on the Michigan State University Campus. I remember we were proud of the turnout.
A few years later, through the help of friends and many organizations on campus, I started an event titled "Tunnel of Oppression." I am grateful to my friend, Zain Ali Shamoon, for keeping the show alive. It just completed it's 5th year in April 2012, with the largest turnout yet.
But this is the first massacre I know of -- at least in the United States. Maybe the fact that this hate resulted in the loss of not 1 or 2, but SEVERAL lives, will finally bring attention to our religion in a broader scope. Perhaps this was God's way of saying our efforts as a Sikh community have simply been too minimal thus far, and this is the opportunity we need to seize to spread teachings about our religion.
There needs to be more mention of Sikhs in our schools and the textbooks that reach our children. I remember being excited the ONE TIME my religion was mentioned in my World History textbook (I think this was 9th grade). That excitement was quickly followed by disappointment, since it only made mention of Indira Gandhi's 2 Sikh bodyguards who were presumed to have been involved in her assassination. It never discussed the fact that Indira Gandhi was the force behind the violent killings of countless Sikhs -- men, women, EVEN CHILDREN -- and even within the walls of the Golden Temple, one of our holiest temples. Can you imagine how I felt in class that day? I was one of two Sikh kids in my entire high school that year. It made me more insecure than I already was at my different identity - a discomfort that I didn't finally overcome until I started undergrad at Michigan State University and found Sikh students living amongst me in my dorm building, and participating in the same organizations I chose to associate with.
All I can ask for right now is two things:
1) To my fellow Americans: please know many of us love this country even more than our own "motherland" of India, and that we were born and brought up here. Please take the time to read the basics of Sikhism, and understand who we are.
2) To my fellow Sikhs: we need to create a largescale fight for educating the men and women we reside amongst. Continue sharing our religion and its teachings to your neighbors and friends.
Instead of returning this act of violence with further hate, let's turn this into something positive. A chance for Sikhs to teach, and non-Sikhs to learn. After all, Sikhism is part of this "melting pot," and we only wish to continue living in peace, without fear, in this great country.
Kind of ironic, that I ended up attending prayers at Gurudwara today. Today - of all Sundays - after not being at Gurudwara for something like 2-3 months. It's even more ironic that today concluded the Hemkunt Foundation international competition, a weekend-long event for children of all ages. In our Plymouth, Michigan Gurudwara (Hidden Falls), Sikhs from all over the country (and even some from the UK!) came together to watch our youth compete in areas such as speeches, and reciting our prayers in front of a large Sangat. I was left in awe at the ability of these Sikhs, all younger than me, to sing our shabads beautifully, singing the words of our Guru's while playing a variety of instruments from the harmonium, to tabla, to the sarangi... even the sitar.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.
It is deeply saddening to me that I am writing another post in response to a massacre. A crime committed through gun violence, and so much hate.
This time, it was directed at members of the same religion as me: Sikhism. A way of life. A religion that preaches equality amongst its members, with men and women sitting side by side. A religion where your standing in society means nothing; everyone sits on the same ground during prayers, and is served the same food afterwards. It doesn't matter whether you are the Queen of England, or homeless.
It is unfortunate that there is so much misunderstanding about our identity, especially after 9/11. I don't agree with the targeting of Muslims after the attacks, but what is disheartening is how Sikhs have been entangled seamlessly in this vicious cycle of hate that has been multiplying over the last 11 years.
Did you know it was a SIKH who was killed in the first deadly hate crime post-9/11? Did you know his name was Balbir Singh Sodhi, and that he was shot in the back as he laid flowers and American Flags in front of his gas station? His act of honoring the victims made him into another victim.
A SIKH. His identity misunderstood because of his beard and turban... the turban is a religious symbol for us. It is NOT tied in the same manner as Osama Bin Laden's. And Bin Laden's turban sure didn't have the same meaning of humility before God as the Sikh turban does.
So what sense can I make of this?
It seems the only conclusion is that this is God's cry to just STOP THE HATE! There have been isolated cases here and there, of students being harassed at schools, to violence being committed against my people who are so brave to don the turban day in and day out and are willing to stand out in this country. We have taken small steps as Sikhs to try to educate others on our religion. My friend, Simran Gill, and I had even hosted an event several years back in response to hate directed at a Sikh student on the Michigan State University Campus. I remember we were proud of the turnout.
A few years later, through the help of friends and many organizations on campus, I started an event titled "Tunnel of Oppression." I am grateful to my friend, Zain Ali Shamoon, for keeping the show alive. It just completed it's 5th year in April 2012, with the largest turnout yet.
But this is the first massacre I know of -- at least in the United States. Maybe the fact that this hate resulted in the loss of not 1 or 2, but SEVERAL lives, will finally bring attention to our religion in a broader scope. Perhaps this was God's way of saying our efforts as a Sikh community have simply been too minimal thus far, and this is the opportunity we need to seize to spread teachings about our religion.
There needs to be more mention of Sikhs in our schools and the textbooks that reach our children. I remember being excited the ONE TIME my religion was mentioned in my World History textbook (I think this was 9th grade). That excitement was quickly followed by disappointment, since it only made mention of Indira Gandhi's 2 Sikh bodyguards who were presumed to have been involved in her assassination. It never discussed the fact that Indira Gandhi was the force behind the violent killings of countless Sikhs -- men, women, EVEN CHILDREN -- and even within the walls of the Golden Temple, one of our holiest temples. Can you imagine how I felt in class that day? I was one of two Sikh kids in my entire high school that year. It made me more insecure than I already was at my different identity - a discomfort that I didn't finally overcome until I started undergrad at Michigan State University and found Sikh students living amongst me in my dorm building, and participating in the same organizations I chose to associate with.
All I can ask for right now is two things:
1) To my fellow Americans: please know many of us love this country even more than our own "motherland" of India, and that we were born and brought up here. Please take the time to read the basics of Sikhism, and understand who we are.
2) To my fellow Sikhs: we need to create a largescale fight for educating the men and women we reside amongst. Continue sharing our religion and its teachings to your neighbors and friends.
Instead of returning this act of violence with further hate, let's turn this into something positive. A chance for Sikhs to teach, and non-Sikhs to learn. After all, Sikhism is part of this "melting pot," and we only wish to continue living in peace, without fear, in this great country.
Kind of ironic, that I ended up attending prayers at Gurudwara today. Today - of all Sundays - after not being at Gurudwara for something like 2-3 months. It's even more ironic that today concluded the Hemkunt Foundation international competition, a weekend-long event for children of all ages. In our Plymouth, Michigan Gurudwara (Hidden Falls), Sikhs from all over the country (and even some from the UK!) came together to watch our youth compete in areas such as speeches, and reciting our prayers in front of a large Sangat. I was left in awe at the ability of these Sikhs, all younger than me, to sing our shabads beautifully, singing the words of our Guru's while playing a variety of instruments from the harmonium, to tabla, to the sarangi... even the sitar.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.
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