Candlelight vigil honours Wisconsin Sikh victims
Source: The Hindu
Published: August 6, 2013 11:52 IST | Updated: August 6, 2013 11:54 IST
Candlelight vigil honours Wisconsin Sikh victims
Hundreds of people gathered Monday night to mark the one-year anniversary of a shooting rampage at a Wisconsin Sikh temple with a candlelight vigil in a field next to the parking lot where two of the six victims died.
~snip~
The shooting prompted an outpouring of support from around the world. Donors from the U.S., India, Canada, Britain and elsewhere raised more than $1.1 million for the victims families, many of whom left their possessions behind in India when they moved hastily to the Milwaukee area immediately following the tragedy.
The relatives, along with other temple members, never reacted publicly with anger or calls for vengeance. On the contrary, several have used the tragedy as a call to action, urging community members to join them in waging peace.
Pardeep Kaleka, whose father died in the shooting, formed an unlikely alliance with a former white supremacist. Together he and Arno Michaelis visit local middle schools and high schools, with Michaelis describing his former life of hate and Kaleka explaining how that sort of hatred led to pointless bloodshed.
Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/candlelight-vigil-honours-wisconsin-sikh-victims/article4995119.ece