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Sikh leader in Canada appeals for calm after racists kill member

The president of a Surrey temple in British Columbia, where a Sikh man was killed, has appealed to his congregation to stay calm.

In the first gathering after five young skinheads were charged with beating the caretaker of the Guru Nanak temple to death, president Balwant Singh Gill asked his congregation not to seek retribution.

"I requested that everyone keep their cool and don't do anything that could give a bad name to the community,'' Gill said on Sunday, after he addressed Sikh worshippers.

Sixtyfive-year-old Nirmal Singh Gill was found semiconscious and bleeding in the parking lot near the temple on January 4 morning. The caretaker had been opening the building for daily morning worship when he was attacked.

Last week the police arrested five skinheads, aged 17 to 25, and charged them with second-degree murder. The accused are Delta residents Robert Kluch (24) and Radoslaw Synderek (22) Daniel Miloszewski (20) of Surrey, Nathan Leblanc (25) of Vancouver, and a 17-year-old youth from Port Moody.

The police said they all belong to the white supremacist group, White Power.

Balwant Singh Gill said many members of the Sikh community were relieved when they learned of the arrests.

The temple authorities propose to host a special ceremony for Nirmal Gill, who immigrated to Canada several years ago to support his wife and paralysed son in India, shortly.

The temple has already raised 24,000 Canadian dollars for the family.

UNI

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