Sikhs join in support

200 pray for victims, show solidarity with United States

Mike Patty, News Staff Writer

Published September 24, 2001 at midnight

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He has blue eyes and blond hair. His parents were German immigrants who settled in Sterling, where he was raised as a Catholic.

But Sadhna Singh Khalsa says he has been singled out for threats and insults in the past week because he now wears the turban and the beard of the Sikh religion. He looks too much like terrorist Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan.

"I was born an American and grew up an American," said Khalsa, who converted to the Sikh religion in 1980. "I am an American first. But now I have to worry about my safety among my own countrymen."

On Sunday, about 200 members of the Colorado Singh Sabha met at their Gurudwara, or temple, near Red Rocks Amphitheater to worship and demonstrate their solidarity with the United States. A formal prayer was offered for the safety of the U.S. Armed Forces and for the discovery of more survivors among the rubble of the World Trade Center.

After the morning service, the members of Colorado's only Sikh community gathered for a group picture.

The men in their bright-colored turbans and the women and children each held a small American flag. The congregation held a banner proclaiming "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

"I come from India, but my son is serving in the U.S. Army," said Sargit Singh. "We hate what the terrorists did and support the United States and President Bush in the effort to get rid of terrorism. The Sikh religion is based on nonviolence and I believe we are all brothers and sisters."

But Sikhs are victims, too, he said.

"Because we wear turbans and have beards, most Americans look at us and can't see or understand that we are different from Osama bin Laden," Sargit Singh said.

Kiranjit Sikand, a spokesman for the Colorado Singh Sabha, noted a Sikh was shot to death in Mesa, Ariz., during the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attack, the victim of mistaken identity.

The Sikhs are a relatively small religious group that began about 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India, Sikand said. There are about 18 million Sikhs in the world, most from India. Yet Sikhs only make up about 2 to 3 percent of the Indian population.

Harbhajan Singh Khalsa said the Sikh religion grew out of the radicalization of the major faiths during the Middle Ages.

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