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Racial murder shocks Canadian Sikhs

A random encounter with a group of young white supremacists led to the slaying of a 65-year-old caretaker at a Sikh temple in Canada, the police said.

Five men, ranging in age from 17 to 25, were arrested yesterday. No names would be released until the five appear in court in Surrey, British Columbia.

Nirmal Singh Gill was found bleeding in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak temple around 1530 hours (local time) on January 4. He died later that day in a hospital.

The suspects are members of a locally based Skinhead group calling itself White Power, said the Vancouver suburb's Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The police said White Power is aligned with other white supremacist groups, including the Northern Hammerskins and the Heritage Front.

The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith estimates 600 young people in Canada are involved in the neo-Nazi Skinhead movement.

The police said White Power sympathisers began an all-night party in Surrey the night before Gill was slain.

Gill, who lived on the temple grounds, opened the temple daily for early-morning worshippers.

That morning, however, he was found bleeding in the parking lot behind the temple, semi-conscious, just a few meters from the building's back door.

An autopsy showed he had been beaten, the police said.

''His encounter in the parking lot can be characterised as a random event that led to an act of senseless violence,'' said RCMP constable Grant Learned.

Tips to the police early in the investigation contributed to the arrests, he said, but would give no further details.

There may be further charges against the five suspects and possibly other individuals as a result of a continuing police investigation that includes searches of several residences, said Learned.

Investigators are questioning a number of men and women associated with the white supremacist movement, he added.

Members of the Sikh community speculated at the time of the killing that Gill might have fallen victim to violence between Sikh fundamentalist members of the International Sikh Youth Federation and moderates who had won control of the temple.

The Guru Nanak Sikh Temple was the site of a violent dispute between the two groups last year.

Federation spokesman Amrit Singh Rai said yesterday he was pleased charges had been laid, but was troubled by the racist implications.

''We don't need racism in a multi-cultural country,'' he said. ''We're all Canadian together.''

It is startling to think the attack might have been racially motivated, said the president of the temple where Gill worked.

''We are all going to have to be more careful,'' said Balwant Singh Gill.

Nirmal Singh Gill immigrated to Canada several years ago to support his wife and son in India.

UNI

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