Eau Claire (WQOW)- The Oak Creek shooting is being called an act of domestic terrorism against the Sikhs. They say their religion is misunderstood.
"Sikhism is something that's in your values and in your heart," says Ari Anand.
Anand came to America for college in 1989. He now is an assistant professor at UW-Eau Claire, teaching anthropology.
"My father, my father's father, we are all Sikhs," Anand explains. "In a sense, you are sort of born into the tradition and it's part of you."
Sikhism is the world's 5th most popular religion, after Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. There are about 25 million Sikhs worldwide, including about 700,000 in the United States. But since the September 11th attacks, Anand says they've become targets for hate-crimes.
"The fact that it has gone up since September 11th makes us think that possibly this is because people are just associating anyone who wears a turban with basically someone who doesn't fully belong in the United States and someone who is an outsider, regardless of whether you are Muslim or a Sikh, that you are basically a threat," Anand says.
The religion stresses equality, acceptance of others, and doing good deeds. Sikhs worship at a temple, called a gurdwara. It was at a gurdwara in Oak Creek where Sunday's shooting occurred.
"Gurdwaras are always open places where people are fed; strangers, I mean I've walked into gurdaras in my life and just been fed food," explains Anand. "This is a moment when people are going to show up because there is a sort of communal atmosphere. There's food available and then there's worship going on."
Anand says he doesn't understand why something like this would happen.
"It's not as if here's my religion, there's yours. I don't like your religion and I'm going to do something," Anand ponders aloud. "You've got to understand someone's religion to do that and this doesn't seem to be about that."
