Local Sikh temple reflects on shooting

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) -- The Sikh temple in Southington is the largest of five Sikh temples in the state. On Sikh holidays, some 500 people come to worship there.

Every day the priest at the Sikh temple in Southington reads from the Sikh holy book starting at 6 a.m.

The priest at the temple in Wisconsin was preparing for the same thing when the gunman entered.

Six were killed and four wounded in a shooting rampage just outside Milwaukee three weeks ago and the shooter killed himself. Authorities say he had ties to white supremacy groups.

Since that incident, the Southington temple has installed more security cameras around the outside of the building and some say they've seen someone looking around in the parking lot.

Since the shootings at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin earlier this month, there have been vigils in Southington and in Norwalk.

On Tuesday, Sikh leaders from all of the state's congregations came to the State Capitol in what was billed as Sikh solidarity day.

"This crime was not a crime only against Sikhs, this crime was crime against humanity, against all Americans," said Darshan Singh Bajwa of Farmington.

However, the crime in Milwaukee was just the worst of many hate crimes against Sikhs. One count says there were 700 over the past decade.

"This thing took a boost after 9/11 and Sikhs have been the victim of hate crimes for no fault of their own," said
Mamohan Singh Bharara of Southington.

Though the Justice Department tracks hate crimes, they apparently do not track them against Sikhs. They want Washington to hear their plea.

They're also asking for more public education about the religion and their concepts of equality, universal brotherhood and one supreme God.