[Vision2020] American Terrorists Target Turbans: A Case of Mistaken Identity

[Nicholas Gier]

Hail to the Vision!

Last year I finished up a draft chapter on the Sikhs for my book "The
Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective," with the most recent
shooting of a Sikh, I thought I would write a column based on that chapter.
 The full version is attached.

I'm now putting the final touches on two chapters on Tibetan Buddhism--one
on Bhutan and other on Tibet.  The surprising result of my research is that
the most religiously motivated violence has been committed by Buddhists.

Happy Spring,

Nick

*AMERICAN TERRORISTS TARGET TURBANS*





Around the world millions of men (and some women) wear turbans for
religious reasons: Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, Coptic Christians,
Muslims, and Sikhs.  The Hebrew God required a distinctive dress for
priests, and a linen turban was one of the requirements (Lev. 16:4).

American Sikh leaders say that they have received over 300 reports of
violence against them since September 11, 2001.

·         The first causality after the attacks was not a Muslim, but
Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh who was shot dead by Frank Roque in Phoenix,
Arizona.

·         On November 18, 2001 in Palermo, New York, a gurdwara (Sikh
temple) named Gobind Sadan was attacked by three teenagers who thought that
it meant “Go bin Laden.”

·         On December 10, 2001, Surinder Singh Sidhu was badly beaten by
two men armed with 4-foot metal poles yelling “We’ll kill bin Laden
today.”

·         On August 5, 2012, at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Wade
Michael Page shot six to death and wounded four others and then took his
own life. Page was an army veteran with ties to neo-Nazi organizations. He
was, in a word, an American terrorist.

·         On February 25, 2013, Kanwaljit Singh’s car was shot six times by
American terrorists while driving in Daytona Beach.  He is now in an
intensive care unit, and the FBI is investigating the incident as a hate
crime.

Amardeep Singh, son of one of the Oak Creek victims said: “We forgave Page
because otherwise it would have been a thorn in our side for the rest of
our lives.”  Since then there have been no demands for revenge; rather, the
Sikhs are calling for unity, reconciliation, and a better understanding of
their unique and vibrant faith.

Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, wrote that “someone is Hindu and someone
a Muslim, but all the human beings are recognized as one and the same. Thus
worship the one Lord, who is the common enlightener of all; all have been
created in His Image. The temple and the mosque are the same.”  The Sikhs
considered themselves Hindus until the 19th Century.

The Sikhs have a long tradition of honoring martyrs who were tortured and
executed by India’s Mughal emperors. Today Sikh militants will argue that
the violence that they have committed is justified self-defense. The Sikh’s
Golden Temple was destroyed by Mughal armies in 1736, by the Afghans in
1757, and then the Indian army badly damaged it in 1984.


During the reign of Ranjit Singh (1799-1839), Sikh authority extended from
the Punjab to Kashmir, a good portion of Northwest India. Unlike the rule
of the Muslim Mughals, Sikhism was not made the official religion of this
nation, and Muslims and Hindus were members of the administration and army.



As opposed to the practice of many Hindu and Muslim militants (today or in
centuries previous), no one was killed because of their faith and no
temples or mosques were destroyed during this Sikh Golden Age.


After the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, an
estimated 5,000 Sikhs lost their lives in pogroms across the country,
mostly in New Delhi, where 200 gurdwaras were also burned down.

A large majority of Sikhs do not support violent action, and they are
frustrated by Sikh extremists, many with much foreign support, who still
try to stir up trouble.  We need to remind ourselves that over a billion
Muslims are also upset by the few militants that sully the name of Islam.

I close with a warning to those, sometimes brandishing fire arms, who want
to protect our nation against the imposition of Shariah Law: the man you
see in public wearing a turban is a Sikh not a Muslim.  Besides the vast
majority of Muslims are no threat to America.

Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31
years.
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