Dharmic* Americans welcome First Lady’s visit to families of Gurudwara shooting on August 23, 2012

Dharmic* Americans welcome First Lady’s visit to families of Gurudwara shooting on August 23, 2012

HASC lauds the First Lady’s support to the Sikh community

Washington, D.C. August 18, 2012.  The Dharmic* community welcomes the First Lady’s visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, 2012 to meet with the family members of those affected by the attack on the Sikh temple.  Milwaukee witnessed the senseless death of six innocent devotees and wounding of the brave responding police officer who answered the call of duty, on August 5, 2012. We applaud the First Lady’s visit of solidarity with the Sikh community.

HASC along with many Dharmic places of worship held prayer vigils and offered acts of seva, of solidarity, for our Sikh brothers and sisters  “The entire nation and the Dharmic community is rising above what differentiates us and is bringing to the forefront what unites us.  We are showing, regardless of our faith, whether we identify as Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or Jewish, in moments like this, as human beings, we come together and stand in unity”, observed, Anju Bhargava, Founder of Hindu American Seva Charities.

We are all Sikhs in this heart breaking moment. 

At the recent Ifthar dinner, the President said, “…..And while we may never fully understand what motivates such hatred, such violence, the perpetrators of such despicable acts must know that your twisted thinking is no match for the compassion and the goodness and the strength of our united American family. …. we declare with one voice that such violence has no place in the United States of America. The attack on Americans of any faith is an attack on the freedom of all Americans.  No American should ever have to fear for their safety in their place of worship. And every American has the right to practice their faith both openly and freely, and as they choose.  That is not just an American right; it is a universal human right. And we will defend the freedom of religion, here at home and around the world. And as we do, we’ll draw on the strength and example of our interfaith community…..”

This tragedy underscores the need for our Dharmic community to be able to train itself and build capacity to better protect itself.  HASC is working with public officials, (such as at the White House and Department of Homeland Security), to assist the Sikh and Dharmic community increase security of faith infrastructures.

We appreciate the administration’s support to help Dharmic communities strengthen their places of worship. 

*Dharmic generally refers to people of eastern traditions: Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs

A Few Lessons Learned: Faith, Friends, The White House, and So Much More

Incidents like the Sikh temple shooting in Milwaukee compel me to find a target, somewhere to point the finger at, someone to blame, someone to claim responsibility for six innocent lives... and the hundreds of thousands of ripples . The fact is, nobody could have known the chaos that was going to descend on the innocent community center and place of worship at Oak Creek. It is unthinkable for such hate and violence to be inflicted upon a peaceful and loving community. It is just not fair.

I applied to attend the Next Generation Seva Leaders Conference in order to further explore my faith and my heritage. I knew I was going to hear from remarkable men and women at this conference: it was co-sponsored by a powerhouse of organizations including the Georgetown Campus Ministry, Hindu American Seva Charities, and the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I was hesitant at first because I really had no formal education on Hinduism. I was worried that I would feel out of place, but I was drawn to the opportunity to work with Bhutanese refugees, interact with the impressive line of of speakers, and obviously regard the esteem of being at the White House. Since I already had a focus for secular community service and social justice through school organizations, I was interested to learn how I could tie that to my family's religious background with faith-based service or seva.

My experience fundamentally changed the way I viewed my family's faith, my faith, and all faiths. I heard from inspiring panelists that were the spiritual leaders of the next generation. They were experts at understanding the millennial “dash Americans”: Jewish-Americans, Sikh-Americans, Hindu-Americans, or anything else. They shared with us the passion, understanding, and patience that is required to grapple with a developing spiritual identity. They encouraged us to educate ourselves about our roots and our traditions through academia and mentors, but they also empowered us to have courage and blaze our own trail. Religion, evidently, is not exempt from moving into the twenty-first century.

As a testament to that inevitable truth, the conference also invited speakers that addressed social justice issues that had previously been considered taboo or were rarely mentioned in the context of Hinduism. Domestic violence and LGBT issues were discussed with compassion, not awkwardness. The connection between the obesity epidemic and the exercise of yoga was an unorthodox but creative one. Even the government's “My Plate” nutritional initiative found a South Asian “My Thali” counterpart, yet another effort spearheaded by the Hindu American Seva Charities. These topics were everything I could have ever hoped to see changed in the world, and they were related to my roots.

We were also honored to interact with the Bhutanese refugee students from the American Vivekananda Academy (AVA). From the moment we started working with one another during the food drive, the students conveyed their intelligence, friendliness, and sense of humor. We were eager to hear their stories, and they were eager to share. Hopefully, we have done them justice in making their voices heard by listening and working with them in the future. 

When I think back to the conference, I think of a single snapshot that someone uploaded onto Facebook with their phone. It shows a White House official, teenagers from New Jersey, and refugees from Bhutan all sitting on the ground and sharing a meal. Who knew paneer and naan could act as such powerful equalizers?

This conference made me realize that faith can bring people together to advance social change. What we believe and how we believe are secondary to our empathy for the human condition, but it is those who believe that will be united.

Shootings at Oak Creek Gurudwara

On August 5, 2012, the small city of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was rocked by a hate crime that shocked the entire nation. A gunman killed six people at a Sikh Temple before being shot and killed by police. The day after this incident occurred, Valarie Kaur, a social advocate for the Sikh community and a filmmaker who documented hate crimes against innocent Sikhs after the 9/11 incident, appeared on CNN addressing her concern and vehemently denouncing this senseless hate crime.

This past weekend, I was at the White House attending the Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) conference where Valarie Kaur, along with other HASC speakers, spoke about dharmic seva, the concept of helping others through community service. The HASC conference broadened my views on seva since Dr. Varun Soni, the first dean of Hindu life at USC, along with Rabbi Sid Schwarz and an interfaith panel, inspired me by addressing the view that different people of different beliefs could perform seva together in a harmonious and united way.

I support Valerie Kaur in her fight for social justice by educating the public about the Sikh faith. My deepest thoughts and prayers are for those who have been impacted by this senseless tragedy. This shooting, along with the shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the shooting in Arizona, and the Virginia Tech shooting that altogether killed 56 people show us that guns are easily accessible and used to solve emotional issues. Therefore, why do innocent lives have to be spent at the expense of gun violence? This shows us that gun control is an important and pressing issue in the United States and that we should urge our elected officials to pass gun control laws in order to prevent the loss of more innocent lives. How many lives have to be lost in order for us to enact gun control laws?

~Alexandre Samy, Second-year student at University of California, Irvine

~Irvine, California

A Personal Reflection on the Shootings in Wisconsin

Hello, My name is Harsha Nahata. I'm a junior at the University of Michigan, studying public policy. This past weekend - August 3rd through 4th - I had the pleasure of attending the HASC Next Generation Seva Leaders Conference. In light of the events that occurred on August 5th, this is my reflection on the conference, the shootings in Wisconsin, and how we can use our faith and service to move on and heal from this tragedy. This past weekend at the HASC conference, we learned about the importance of interfaith work, of increasing awareness especially of the Eastern religions. And we also learned the importance of using these connections to impact the communities around us by making social change; to combat anger, hopelessness, and hate, with love and compassion. We heard from many inspirational speakers, one of whom was Valerie Kaur from Groundswell. Valerie traveled the country post 9/11 collecting stories Sikh Americans from around the country facing discrimination and hate violence. She turned these stories into a documentary that is now available for viewing. Her work in telling stories of individuals who are suffering is inspirational, and all the more necessary after today's events in Wisconsin. Telling these stories won't stop every crazy individual with a gun looking to shoot, but it will inspire dialogue and help us empathize with the victims. There is no excuse for targeting a group of individuals on the basis of religion, not in this country at least. There is no justification, no logical rationale. The events in Milwaukee, Wisconsin were horrific. My thoughts and prayers genuinely go out to all the victims and the entire Sikh community. They are once more unfairly made the target of unnecessary anger and hate. I'm not Sikh. I grew up in a Jain household. But even so, for me the impact is no different than what it would be if it was a Jain temple that was targeted. It isn't a matter of faith, as we talked about at the HASC conference, it's a matter of basic humanity. Of spreading love and compassion, not fear or anger or hate. It's a matter of standing together with a community that has been and continues to be unfairly targeted. It's a matter of standing in unity with people who were innocent victims of circumstance and irrational malice. At the conference we discussed unity among the Dharmic traditions to great length. We talked about how essential it was for Eastern religions to unite and follow through on their commitment to service and Seva within the communities, to make the world a better place than we found it. There isn't much positive that can be drawn from this situation or from these events. But, they do present us with an opportunity. An opportunity to unite with one another, to stand by each other in a time of great tragedy, and to work together to spread awareness. We were told, at the conference, that it isn't the grand things you can do, but the small things. The tiny ways you can make an impact on an individual or a community. If ever there was a time to unite and work to make someone's world a little bit better, it is now. We can't go back in time and undo what happened in Wisconsin today, but we can show the community in Milwaukee that they do not stand alone. That we support them and stand with them.

Hindu and Dharmic Americans Condemn the Shooting at Sikh Gurudwara

HASC urges Dharmic American houses of worship and community to build self-protection capacity

We at the Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) are deeply saddened by the attack on the Sikh temple in Milwaukee on August 5, 2012 and the senseless death of six innocent devotees and wounding of the brave responding police officer who answered the call of duty.

We send our condolences to the families impacted, to the Sikh community of Milwaukee and to the Sikh community all over the country as they cope with such loss and tragedy.  We express our full support to the Sikh community, and stand shoulder to shoulder with them in this difficult time, to combat these acts of violence.  

HASC is concerned about ongoing domestic terrorism and hate crimes, especially as this shooting follows another recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado.  We have seen many Dharmic people, particularly the Sikhs, impacted since 9/11; with Sikhs alone reporting over 700 hate crime incidents. There is no justification for these acts. This is especially so in a place of holy worship and amongst innocent and unarmed civilians.  

This tragedy highlights the importance of our community to train itself and build capacity to better protect itself. In the coming days, HASC will work with public officials to assist the Dharmic community and offer all possible assistance to the Sikh community.  HASC has been in touch with the Department of Homeland Security and the White House to assist in their outreach efforts to the community and places of worship and is expanding this effort in light of the recent tragedy.  In fact on August 15^th, New Jersey’s Department of Homeland Security will hold a Surveillance Detection and Suspicious Behavior Training.  This course will provide training on the knowledge and skills necessary to detect hostile surveillance conducted against critical infrastructure and identify suspicious behavior.  

HASC urges all Dharmic places of worship to hold prayer vigils and offer acts of Seva and solidarity for our Sikh brethren. In times of such tragedy we rise above about what differentiates us and bring to the forefront what unites us. Regardless of our faith, whether we identify as Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or Jewish, in moments like this, it is our duty as human beings to come together and stand in unity.

Harsha Nahata, HASC’s Next Generation Seva Leader and a junior at University of Michigan eloquently expresses our sentiments "This past weekend, August 3^rd – 4^th, at the HASC conference co-hosted with the White House, we learned about the importance of interfaith work, and of increasing awareness especially of the Dharmic (Eastern) religions. We also learned the importance of using these connections to impact the communities around us by making social change. We heard from many inspirational speakers, one of whom was Valerie Kaur from Groundswell. Valerie traveled the country post 9/11 collecting stories from Sikh Americans around the country facing discrimination and hate violence. Her work is all the more necessary after today's events in Wisconsin…….I'm not Sikh. I grew up in a Jain household. But even so, for me the impact is no different than what it would be if it was a Jain temple that was targeted. It isn't a matter of faith, as we talked about at the HASC conference and at the White House Briefing; it is a matter of basic humanity. Of spreading love and compassion, not fear or hate. It's a matter of standing together with a community that has been and continues to be unfairly targeted. It's a matter of standing in unity with people who were innocent victims of circumstance and irrational malice.’

We at HASC express our deep sorrow and condemnation for the tragedy and stand with the Sikh community in this difficult time.