INDIANAPOLIS â Ajeet Singh had to steel himself for a return to work at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis April 20 for the first time since a former employee shot dead eight people, including four members of Indianapolisâ tightly knit Sikh community.
âIâve been scared to go back,â Singh said. âI donât know why this happened still. Was it random, or was it because of who I am?â
While the motive for the April 15 rampage remains under investigation, leaders and members of the Sikh community say they feel a collective trauma and believe more must be done to combat the bigotry, bias and violence they have suffered for decades in the country. Amid intense pain, theyâre channeling their grief into demands for gun reform and tougher hate crime statutes, and calls for outsiders to educate themselves about their Sikh neighbors.
“We are time and time again disproportionately facing senseless and often very targeted attacks,” said Satjeet Kaur, executive director of the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based group that has urged investigators to examine bias as a possible motive in the shootings.
INDIANAPOLIS – Ajeet Singh had to steel himself for a return to work at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday for the first time since a former employee shot dead eight people, including four members of Indianapolis’ tightly knit Sikh community.
“I’ve been scared to go back,” Singh said. “I don’t know why this happened still. Was it random, or was it because of who I am?” While the motive for last week’s rampage remains under investigation, leaders and members of the Sikh community say they feel a collective trauma and believe more must be done to combat the bigotry, bias and violence they have suffered for decades in the country. Amid intense pain, they’re channeling their grief into deman
Trauma lingers for Sikhs in state
CASEY SMITH and LUIS ANDRES HENAO | Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS – Ajeet Singh had to steel himself for a return to work at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday for the first time since a former employee shot dead eight people, including four members of Indianapolis tightly knit Sikh community.
“I ve been scared to go back,” Singh said. “I don t know why this happened still. Was it random, or was it because of who I am?”
While the motive for last week s rampage remains under investigation, leaders and members of the Sikh community say they feel a collective trauma and believe more must be done to combat the bigotry, bias and violence they have suffered for decades in the country. Amid intense pain, they re channeling their grief into demands for gun reform and tougher hate crime statutes, and calls for outsiders to educate themselves about their Sikh neighbors.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images
Four of the eight people killed in the shooting in Indianapolis last week were Sikhs.
There are more than 500,000 Sikhs in the US, but most Americans don t know who we are.
I wish more Americans were curious about people of other faiths.
Amitoj Singh is a New York based journalist who has previously been principal anchor and news editor at India s New Delhi Television (NDTV).
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
Eight people were shot dead in Indianapolis last week in another act of senseless gun violence.
The fact that four of the eight people killed and two of the five people injured were from the Sikh faith and that about 90% of the workers at the facility are Sikh raised concerns that this was a hate crime targeting the community.