Gurdwara in US vandalised; Takht wants stern action

Washington/Amritsar, February 8
An under-construction Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) in the American State of Michigan was vandalised and defaced with anti-Muslim graffiti on Febrauar 5, members of the gurdwara management committee said.

The graffiti included vulgar language, racial epithets, a large drawing of a gun and references to the 9/11 attacks, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund said. It urged the authorities to initiate a hate crime probe into the matter.

The vandalism was condemned by the Michigan chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Jewish Committee.

"We condemn the vandalism of the Sikh house of worship in Sterling Heights and call on local and federal law enforcement to use their full resources to apprehend the perpetrators of this hate crime," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Muslim Council.

In Amritsar, the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Gurbachan Singh, on Wednesday sought stringent punishment for those responsible for vandalising the gurdwara.

“I appeal to members of the Sikh community as well as the Muslims to maintain peace and harmony. They should not get provoked, but togeteher make efforts to identify those behind the incident,” he said.

The Jathedar urged the US Administration to zero in on the culprits and initiate strict action against them as per the law. SGPC secretary Dalmegh Singh said gurdwaras were a symbol of pluralism and misusing their premises to abuse any religion was condemnable.

Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said: “We are pained to see the Sikh community being repeatedly targeted in the US and other countries in one way or the other.

“We urge the Obama Administration to use its resources to apprehend the perpetrators of this crime.”