DOZENS OF PEOPLE IN VIGIL FOR US TEMPLE SHOOTING VICTIMS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury (with a decent photo, which hasn't been posted on the website):

Dozens of people in vigil for US temple shooting victims

Dozens of people from various faiths gathered for a prayer vigil in memory of six people killed at a Sikh Gurdwara in the USA a week ago.

The service in Town Hall Square, Leicester, on Sunday night, was organised by Leicester Council of Faiths chairman Councillor Manjula Sood and secretary Councillor Inderjit Gugnani.

They organised the vigil as a way to commemorate the victims of the attack, as well as a way for Sikhs and non-Sikhs to stand together to bring about healing.

Coun Gugnani said: "We pray it doesn't happen again. But it happened. All we can do is turn it into a positive message for our friends in the community."

A 40-year-old Army veteran with links to the white-supremacist movement entered the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and opened fire. Six people ranging in age from 39 to 84 lay dead. The suspect, Wade Michael Page, reportedly killed himself.

I posted a comment on the Mercury's website, under my own name, as follows:

Glad to see the Mercury cover this, but, as a strong, positive story expressing good relations between the diverse communities of our city, I'd have hoped that it would have attracted more attention. I was there, among a considerable number of people who were not Sikhs, but wanting to show solidarity and sympathy. The Mercury report doesn't mention that Jon Ashworth MP was in attendance and gave a short speech. There were more like 250 attendees at the height of the event. There's more detailed coverage of the vigil on various social media outlets, e.g. the Facebook page of Leicesterhire Sikh Alliance (www.facebook.com/LeicestershireSikhAlliance), the YouTube channel of Civic Leicester (http://www.youtube.com/user/CivicLeicester?feature=watch), the video report posted by Pukaar News (http://www.pukaarnews.com/vigil-held-after-us-shooting/2806/) and my blog post (http://equalitydiversityofficer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/vigil-for-victims-of-wisconsin-gurdwara.html?spref=fb).