WASHINGTON, D.C: The Sikh community of the Washington metropolitan area organized a special service on Sunday, August 18, 1996 to express its support for the African American congregations and communities who have lost their church building recently, President Clinton sent his representative to this prayer service, while a day later he and Vice-president Al Gore helped to rebuild a church in Tennessee. Several prominent religious leaders of different faiths also participated. Held at Stone Mill Elementary School, this service was organized by Guru Gobind Singh Foundations (GGSF), an active Washington Sikh group and was attended by representatives of various Sikh Gurdwaras in the area.

Almost 50 church buildings have been burnt in the last 18 months. Most of them are in the South and belong to black Christian congregations. President Clinton made it a priority for his administration to control this criminal activity and brought national attention to this crisis when he visited a burnt church in South Carolina and also help a summit of 16 southern governors at the White House. Since then there has been tremendous public outcry against these racial acts and an outpouring of public support to rebuild these churches. Last week two Ku Klux Klan members, a white supremacist group, confessed to burning a church in South Carolina.

Two prominent African American leaders from Washington, D.C., Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith spoke at the prayer Service. The program included singing of Sikh hymns by Bhai Kadam Singh and Bhai Gurdarshan Singh, a priest at GGSF. This was followed by prayers by such faith representatives as Roman Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Protestants, and Mormons. Over 350 Sikh men, women and children, 35 persons of various faiths also attended the service, Asuntha Chiang brought a message from Senator Barbara Mikulski, and In addition, Ms. Flo McAfee from the White House Office of Public Liaison brought good wishes from President Bill Clinton. Dr, Rajwant Singh, Executive Director of GGSE, while speaking at the occasion said, “the response we received from all faith communities is very encouraging. This shows that we people of different religions can fathom the hurt and agony being suffered by our African American brothers and sisters on account of their church are burning. I would like to convey to them that you do not stand alone in this crisis because we hayzall joined hands to protect each other, 49 counteract any such future act of fared and violence.

GGSEF represents Sikhism in the IFC and also participates in various national and international forums to represent Sikh view. GGSF was also part of a coalition which lobbied successfully in the U.S. Congress to pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Dr. Rajwant Singh, a Washington based Sikh leader representing the Interfaith Conference and the Sikh faith was among the 30 religious leaders from various faiths who were invited to a special breakfast meet in a the White House by President Chef, 4 along with his cabinet members on June 26, 1996, to discuss the issue of burning of churches and to discuss concrete plans to handle this national crisis. Dr. Singh was again called at the White House on July 7, 1996, when President Clinton held a signing ceremony of a bill unanimously passed by both houses of U.S. Legislature to make church burning a federal crime. This meeting was attended by several congressmen and senators in addition to national police representatives and many civic and religious leaders. Dr. Rajwant Singh is the first Sikh president of the Interfaith Conference of the Metropolitan Washington, a coalition of seven world religions and the Executive Director of GGSF.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 2, 1996