Hundreds turned out to a prayer vigil inside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey on Aug 7 (above) after six Sikhs were shot at a temple in Wisconsin two days earlier. Similar prayer ceremonies took place in Abbotsford gurdwaras last weekend where members of the local Sikh community revealed that a survivor who was critically wounded in the massacre formerly preached in Abbotsford.
Photograph by: Mark Van Manen, PNG , Vancouver Sun , for the Abbotsford Times
A man critically injured and on life support after being shot during the Sikh temple attack in Wisconsin on Aug. 5 spent time in Abbotsford, say local residents.
Punjab Singh, 65, one of three men wounded in the massacre, is in hospital after suffering a gunshot to the face and needs mechanical assistance to breathe, according to ABC news reports.
A number of Abbotsford residents report that "Baba" Singh was a visiting guest preacher from India.
He spent time preaching at a temporary temple on Cyril Street before the Gurdwara Sahib Kalgidhar Darbar was opened on Blueridge Drive.
Ninder Gill, a member of the Kalgidhar Darbar gurdwara, said Singh and one of his sons reportedly visited Abbotsford in 2002 for six months.
Singh acted as a guest preacher while his son acted as a gatka, or Punjabi martial arts, instructor at the Gurmat Centre on Townline Road.
It's not clear if Singh made more than one visit to the Abbotsford.
Six people died when Wade Michael Page, who had ties to neo-Nazi groups, attacked the Milwaukee temple.
A number of different Abbotsford Sikh congregations held vigils and prayer services on the weekend in memory of the victims.
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