:dateline:With a heavy heart, the National Sikh Campaign (NSC) expresses our solidarity with the Jewish community and the city of Pittsburgh in the wake of the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States. The gunman expressed hateful and anti-Semitic epithets during the attack, which took place at the Tree of Life synagogue and has taken the lives of 11 members of the Jewish community.
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This attack is not only traumatic for our Jewish brothers and sisters, but for all faith communities. We will continue to pray for the families of the victims. The shooting is also particularly poignant for National Sikh Campaign because it was formed in response to a similar attack at a Sikh Gurdwara (Sikh house of worship) in 2012 when a white supremacist murdered six Sikh men and women.�
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Dr. Rajwant Singh, co-founder of NSC and its senior adviser said, “The Sikh community in the United States is deeply saddened by this shooting. It could have occurred at any church, temple, or gurdwara These precious lives were taken away from their loved ones and we feel for all the families of the victims.”
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Dr. Singh added: �Churches, Synagogues, Temples, Mosques, and Gurdwaras should be a safe place for all faith communities. Our heightened political rhetoric has been an impediment to creating a safe environment and the leadership of this country ought to send signals which give solace to all communities.”
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The National Sikh Campaign urges community members to express solidarity with their local Synagogues and places of worship. �
We are sad and broken-hearted to hear about the unfortunate incident. Our prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones to hatred and senseless killings. Sikhs stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.