"A lot of ignorance" promotes hatred against Sikhs in the United States, which are often confused with radical Muslims at the mere sight of their beards and turbans, denounced the members of this community in New York.
The religious community is still reeling from Sunday's shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin (north) perpetrated by a former soldier close to neo-Nazi circles that killed six members of her before shooting himself in the head .
The association Sikh Coalition based in New York called for a vigil Wednesday night throughout the country to commemorate the victims.
"The scary part is that it happened in a gurdwara (temple, ed.) It takes another dimension", told AFP Amanjot Sidhu, 24, a dental student in New York.
Mr. Sidhu has accompanied his father, Balwinder Sidhu, a Sikh temple in the neighborhood of Richmond Hill in New York, a suburb of Queens.
Women dressed in pastel robes chanting in the great hall, while teams of volunteers in the canteen serve the faithful, seated on carpets, tea and spicy appetizing dishes.
The discussions quickly turn around the carnage Sunday. Although they come from a different culture, say Sikhs undergo the same intolerance that American Muslims, especially since September 11 and the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, who wear a turban too.
"People do not understand who we are. They think that we are Muslims or the Taliban. We are neither one nor the other," recalls Balwinder Sidhu, 57, a taxi driver in retirement.
"It has a lot of ignorance. People think that as we were turbans must be Islamic," added his daughter."While it takes two seconds on the internet" to make a difference.
The children painted the temple posters that show the five "K", religious symbols worn by Sikhs as "kara", the bracelet that symbolizes the courage, or the "kesh" the uncut hair wrapped by the turban.
Singhara Singh, a cab driver, recalls that Sikhs had been targeted in 1979, during the taking of American hostages in Iran, a country where religious also wear beards and turbans.
"People were in the taxi and stood out" when they saw the driver, he testifies.
Sikhs in the United States and are associated with conflict in the Middle East when religion comes from the region of Punjab in northern India.
They certainly have a long warrior tradition, but their temples are places very accessible according to an ancient tradition of hospitality.
What could make the killer of Wisconsin, Amanjot Sidhu admits: "Nobody paid any attention. There were no guards and no one was watching at the entrance."
The hair salon near the temple, customers sympathize with their neighbors Sikhs. "After September 11, ten or fifteen people were attacked. People came here to get your hair cut and remove their turbans because they were afraid," said Alex Kimygarov, Uzbek immigrant and customer lounge.
The boss of the show Revottaro Hugo, an Argentine immigrant, says he loves his Sikhs, even if they do not bring him many clients with their long hair. He said, "Television should broadcast programs about religion because many people do not make a difference" between them.