Editing:2022.08.11 Oak Creek round up 1

August 11, 2022 (Oak Creek, WI) -- The Sikh Coalition would like to thank all of our allies and partners in Oak Creek and across the nation for the collaborative efforts to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2012 attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

First and foremost, we thank the families of Prakash Singh, Paramjit Kaur, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Suveg Singh Khattra, and Baba Punjab Singh for graciously welcoming us to be a part of this remembrance of their loved ones.

The weekend’s events would not have been possible without the hard work and support of numerous partners and allies. The Sikh Coalition is grateful to leading community sevadaars Pardeep Singh Kaleka, Navdeep Singh Gill, and Mandeep Kaur; our partners from the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee; event sponsors and vendors including The Asian American Foundation; the members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin gurdwara leadership committee; speakers for Friday’s vigil from outside the sangat, including interfaith leaders, Lt. Brian Murphy, Mayor Dan Bukiewicz, Governor Tony Evers, James Santelle, Erika Moritsugu, and Melissa Rogers; government representatives including those from the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service; and all community members locally and out-of-state who volunteered during the weekend’s events.

“The Sikh Coalition was honored to be a part of the commemorations around this important milestone,” said Rucha Kaur, Sikh Coalition Community Development Director. “We thank the local sangat for welcoming us and so many others for a deeply meaningful weekend, and sangats across the country for doing their part to help all Americans remember and honor Oak Creek.”

In addition to the events in Oak Creek, more than 20 cities across the nation participated in the Sikh Coalition’s National Day of Seva or National Night of Vigil programming. Participating sangats included those in Detroit, MI; Charlotte, NC; Fairfax, VA; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Bellingham, WA; Lawrenceville, NJ; Salt Lake City, UT; Indianapolis, IN; Dayton, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Asbury Park, NJ; Orangevale, CA; Salem, OR; Enola, PA; San Antonio, TX; Federal Way, WA; Albuquerque, NM; East Greenbush, NY; Olathe, KS; Oakland, NJ; Lexington, KY; Lenexa, KS; and New York, NY. We extend a warm thank you to all of the incredible sevadaars who facilitated their sangat’s participation in projects to clean up community parks, host food drives, provide meals to homeless shelters, and more.

As a reminder, you can watch livestreams provided by Nishkam TV of Friday’s vigil, Saturday’s community day, and Sunday’s Akhand Path online. You can also view additional photos from the events here.

As always, the Sikh Coalition urges you to practice your faith fearlessly.

Last Weekend’s Oak Creek Commemoration