Widows of men shot dead at Sikh temple mourn their loss
(7 Aug 2012) STORYLINE: For 16 years, Lokinder Kaur waited patiently for the day her husband would be reunited with her and their children. That dream died with him in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Ranjit Singh, one of six killed in a shooting attack at the temple at the weekend, never came home in all those years, working at a grocery store during the week and volunteering at the Sikh gurdwara on weekends. He promised his family he was doing what had to be done to get a green card so they could join him. He called every few days, even as the months dragged into years. Kaur said she spoke to Singh just the day before a gunman entered the temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and shot worshippers as they prepared for services on Sunday. Singh sang devotional songs at the temple and took care of worshipers, serving them meals. His brother, who also died in the attack, often sang with him. All Kaur was left with is a recent photograph of Singh, dressed sharply in a crisp shirt and tie and smiling confidently into the camera. "My children keep asking me, `What did papa look like?" she said, sobbing at her faded memory of her husband's face. "I have no answers." When Singh first left for the United States his son was just 7 months old, his daughters 4 and 6. He had a visa for just six months. Her husband's one dream was to see his children settled abroad, Kaur said as she sat surrounded by grieving family and friends in her modest two-story home in a Delhi neighborhood. A short distance away from Kaur's home, there were similar scenes of mourning at the home of her slain brother-in-law Sita Singh, who travelled back and forth routinely from India to the United States. His wife, Surinder Kaur, first got word that something had happened in a 1:30 a.m. phone call from a relative, who said the brothers had been shot. Three hours later they were dead. "How did this happen? This shouldn't have happened. It's a house of God where people come to pray, sing devotional songs and offer their prayers. This should not happen in these places," Surinder Kaur said. According to police, the gunman was a failed soldier who played in white supremacist heavy metal bands, but his motive remained a mystery. Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims or Arabs, and have been targeted in post-September 11 bias attacks in the US. The New York-based Sikh Coalition reported more than 700 incidents in the US since 2001. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
