Sikhs

Police in Vancouver closed one of Canada's largest Sikh temples Sunday, fearing a clash between moderate and conservative factions. Vancouver Police Chief Bruce Chambers said the officers acted after failing to mediate a long-running religious dispute at the temple. It centers on an edict from the religion's ruling body in India to remove dining hall tables and chairs, which conservatives consider an improper addition to a temple.

President Bush sent greetings to America's Sikhs as they celebrate the birthday of Guru Nanak, the founder of their faith. "America is strengthened by the rich cultural and religious diversity of its people," the president said in his message, according to a statement from the Sikh Council on Religion and Education. "By preserving your customs and sharing your loving and compassionate faith, Sikhs contribute to America's vibrant spiritual foundation."

A coalition of U.S. Sikh groups said information it provided to the Federal Aviation Administration was used to draft new guidelines for airport security staffers, telling them not to harass turban-wearing travelers. Almost all Americans wearing turbans are Sikhs because the religion mandates the practice for men, along with beards. Some women also wear turbans. Sikh groups have accused airport workers of racial profiling since Sept. 11.

Followers of the Sikh faith say they have been unfairly singled out for elaborate security checks at airports, sometimes being forced to remove their turbans, an integral part of their religious identity. Some say racial profiling at airports has been part of a backlash against people of Middle Eastern appearance since the Sept. 11 attacks, which have been blamed on Islamic extremists. Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims because both groups wear turbans.

Sikhs waging a separatist war in Punjab killed 36 people, hanging four in revenge for the executions of two Sikhs convicted in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, police said Thursday. The latest deaths bring the number of people killed in Punjab so far this year to more than 90. At least 2,400 people were killed in 1988. The two Sikhs, Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, were hanged Jan. 6 in New Delhi for the murder of Gandhi, who was shot down Oct.

The first slide professor Nirvikar Singh flashed on his PowerPoint showed the faces of six Sikh worshipers gunned down the previous month in Oak Creek, Wis., by a man with white supremacist ties. As after other attacks since 9/11, the UC Santa Cruz professor explained to students in this fall introductory course, the Wisconsin shooting revealed an abiding ignorance over who Sikhs are -- and aren't. "Despite being in this country for more than 100 years, I think Sikhs are not well understood," said Singh, a 58-year-old economist, dressed in jeans and a midnight blue turban.

Relatives and friends of three Sikh men who were fatally shot while playing cards at a park last week gathered Sunday to mourn their deaths, which have devastated the region's 150,000-member Sikh community. On Feb. 22, Ranbir Singh, 43, of San Jose allegedly opened fire on at least a dozen Sikhs. Hari Singh, 65; Kulwant Singh, 45; and Satnam Singh, 70, died of gunshot wounds. Three others were wounded.

Sikh prisoners strangled a guard with an unwound turban today during a foiled jailbreak in which one inmate was killed, Punjab state police said. The guard, Gurcharan Singh, was choked to death as eight prisoners attempted to escape from Nabha jail, about 50 miles southwest of Chandigarh, police said. The prisoners, all awaiting trial on charges of terrorism, used their turbans as ropes to get over the walls, but the escape was foiled when security forces posted outside opened fire.

Thirty-eight Hindu passengers were shot to death by several Sikh extremists in an attack on a bus in India's troubled Punjab state, according to the Press Trust of India. One of the attackers was also reported killed. At least 23 passengers were wounded. The news agency said it was the bloodiest terrorist attack since the federal government imposed direct rule two months ago on Punjab, where Sikh extremists are fighting for an independent state.

Bombs apparently planted by Sikh separatists exploded within minutes of each other Wednesday aboard two state-owned buses parked in Amritsar's main bus terminal, killing at least four people and wounding 36 others, police said. The bombings came on the second anniversary of Operation Black Thunder, in which security forces besieged the Golden Temple of Amritsar, Sikhdom's holiest shrine, for nine days to quell an occupation by Sikh militants. Forty people were killed.