Update: Arson at Gobind Sadan

November 18, 2002

Source: The Post-Standard

http://syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-5/103761235989651.xml

On November 18, 2002 The Post-Standard reported that "on Nov. 18 last year, two Oswego County teens set the fire, after they and two others vandalized it because the four thought the Sikhs supported Osama bin Laden and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, authorities have said. All four were convicted of a hate crime. The incident came as the country struggled to make sense of the religious implications of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. It also occurred during the first Racial Justice Sabbath, an InterReligious Council of Central New York program designed to encourage interfaith understanding. At Sunday's event, [Ralph] Singh, spokesman for Gobind Sadan, thanked about 50 people for their support after the fire. Attending the event in the community's barn, which was not damaged in the fire, were representatives from congregations including Unitarian, United Methodist and Roman Catholic traditions."