Michelle Obama to meet families of Sikh temple shooting victims

Soul_jyot · #1 (**permalink**) 19-Aug-2012, 09:35 AM

Michelle Obama to meet families of Sikh temple shooting victims

WASHINGTON - Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:06pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First lady Michelle Obama on Thursday will meet with families of victims of the shooting rampage at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin earlier this month, a White House aide said on Saturday.

Six people were killed and four others, including a police officer, were injured on August 5 when Wade Michael Page, an Army veteran with links to racist groups, gunned them down and then killed himself.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/united-states/38958-michelle-obama-meet-families-sikh-temple.html

Obama will go to Milwaukee to meet with immediate family members of those who were killed and injured, the aide said on condition of anonymity. Investigators have not determined why Page targeted the Sikh temple.

Rajwant Singh, the chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, based in Washington, said it was critical that U.S. leaders reach out to the Sikh families in Wisconsin and to the Sikh community.

"A visit by the first lady will be reassuring and heartening and it will be a powerful symbol of President Obama embracing the Sikhs at this serious juncture," he said in an emailed statement.

President Barack Obama has called for an end to "senseless violence" in the wake of the shootings at the temple and a July 20 massacre at a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 people.

But he has been careful not to take a controversial stand on gun control in the run-up to the November 6 presidential election.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Paul Simao and Cynthia Osterman)

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...87H05K20120818

Luckysingh · #2 (**permalink**) 20-Aug-2012, 07:19 AM

Some may be pleased with this action, yet others may be the opposite.
Mrs O, as she has come to be known due to her vast TV appearances in the last few years, seems to do well in representing the white house wherever she visits or speaks.

I'm not sure how many TV appearances she has made, but she's been seen on Kids programmes, talk shows, cooking shows, infact all the apppearances that a celebrity would normally make.
With this she has developed many new fans and also many viewers that don't like her portrayed in this manner. They see her as a ''wannabe'' celebrity or something.

In my opinion, as a general all rounder and a person that can display characteristics of a mother, first lady, intelligence, fun and games, care and sympathy.
I would rather that she made the visit to Wisconsin at this stage. It may seem to political because of the elections if her husband went, and I would rather it be someone that can really chat on the peoples level than lets say the Queen or someone from India's goverment or ministry.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=38958

Her visit will not just be about the vitims but it will affect the light that all the sikhs are seen in across North America and the world.
Her visit can only result in something positive in terms of 'sikh awareness across the board'. We do need the issues addressed of what we really stand for and what very little we demand besides respect and acceptance.