Sikhism & The Sikh faith the fifth-largest in the world

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Although Sikhism is the world’s fifth largest religion, the media and Sikhs themselves have a lot of work to do to make common folks aware of who the Sikhs are and how God fearing, peaceful and hard-working as a community.
The word Sikh means a disciple or seeker of Truth. The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak (1469-1539) first uttered the word Ek-Onkar envisioning that there is only One Universal Creator of us all and of everything around us. He brought a message of love and equality to his disciples, the Sikhs, and preached them to: 1. Always remember the creator  God (Akaal Purkh) 2. Always live a honest life and earn a just living and 3. Always share your blessings with other less fortunate ones. Guru Nanak passed on his enlightened leadership of this new religion to nine successive gurus. The final living guru, Gobind Singh died in 1708. All 10 Sikh gurus preached the same enlightened spiritual beliefs and carried the same torch lit by Guru Nanak. All Sikh Gurureligion or social status. Guru Nanak traveled far and wide spreading his message of monotheistic belief in only one creator being, Akaal Purkh, and dispelling superstitions and ritualistic practices brought about by old religions and prevalent beliefs.

The greater Punjab region is the historical homeland of the Sikhs, although significant communities exist around the world..


The shooting in Wisconsin was unfortunate and tragic.


The gunman who killed six worshipers at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin was identified as a 40-year-old U.S. Army veteran and authorities said they were investigating possible links to white supremacist groups and his membership in skinhead rock bands. 
Sources by Reuters say:
The assailant, shot dead by police at the scene on Sunday, was identified as Wade Michael Page. He served as a soldier in the Army from 1992 to 1998, police chief John Edwards said in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek where the 400-member temple is located.

Survivors described women and children hiding in the pantry of the temple's community kitchen as the gunman stormed through the building. "Everyone was falling on top of one another," said Parminder Toor, 54, speaking in Punjabi as her daughter-in-law, Jaskiran Kaur, translated.

"It was dark and we were all crammed in." One of the women who made it into the pantry had been shot in the hand, and there was "blood everywhere," said Toor.

Federal authorities said they were treating the attack as a possible act of domestic terrorism.

The SPLC pointed to a 2010 interview with white supremacist website Label 56 in which Page said he had played in various bands since 2000, when he left his native Colorado on a motorcycle.

Two years earlier, in 1998, Page had been discharged from the Army for "patterns of misconduct," according to military sources. He had served for six years but was never posted overseas. He was a psychological operations specialist and missile repairman who was last stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the sources said.

In June 1998 he was disciplined for being drunk on duty and had his rank reduced to specialist from sergeant. He was not eligible to re-enlist.

LONE GUNMAN

FBI special agent Teresa Carlson said authorities were interviewing Page's family and associates searching for a motive behind the shooting that killed six people and seriously wounded three, including a police officer, at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

A fourth person was wounded less seriously.

The dead were five men and one woman, aged between 39 and 84, including the president of the congregation and a priest.



Hundreds of people converged on a Sikh temple in Brookfield, Wisconsin on Monday evening for a vigil to mourn the dead. Those attending with uncovered heads, including Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, were required to cover them with predominantly orange headscarves knotted at the back.

American Sikhs around the country added security to temples, with some saying they have been singled out for harassment since the September 11, 2001, attacks because they are mistaken as Muslims due to their colorful turbans and beards.

Describing how the events unfolded, Chief Edwards told reporters the first officer on the scene found a victim in the temple parking lot and went to render assistance. The officer was then shot eight or nine times at very close range with a handgun, Edwards said.

The gunman then fired on a police car, ignoring officers' commands to drop his weapon, and was shot and killed by police.

The wounded officer was identified as Brian Murphy, 51, a 21-year veteran of the force. Even though he had been hit, Murphy had waved away other officers coming to his aid, urging them to go into the temple to help others, Edwards said.

Edwards said they were confident Page was a "lone gunman. The FBI had said it was searching for a person of interest in the case, but a law enforcement official said the person had been located and cleared.

GUN BOUGHT LEGALLY

Officials said the weapon Page used was a Springfield 9mm semiautomatic handgun purchased legally at The Shooter Shop, a Milwaukee area gun store. Page emptied several magazines and several more unused magazines were found on the scene.

Wisconsin has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country. It passed a law in 2011 allowing citizens to carry a concealed weapon.

President Barack Obama said Americans need to do more "soul searching" to find ways to reduce violence.

"All of us recognize that these kinds of terrible, tragic events are happening with too much regularity," Obama said at a White House bill-signing ceremony when asked whether further gun control measures were needed.

The shooting came just over two weeks after a gunman killed 12 people at a theater in Aurora, Colorado, where they were watching a screening of the new Batman movie.

There are 500,000 or more Sikhs in the United States. The Sikh faith is the fifth-largest in the world, with more than 30 million followers. It includes belief in one God and that life's goal is to lead an exemplary existence.

Its should be condemn in strongest possible way.I pray for the people who have lost their life in this incident.
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