Philadelphia: Kavneet Singh representing the American Sikh Council (ASC) participated in an interfaith event as part of the ‘Religious Leaders Council’ held by the ‘Interfaith Philadelphia’ (ICGP) hosted by the representatives of the Catholic Diocese at the main headquarters in Philadelphia on Feb 12, 2024.

 The ICGP has a very active group of interfaith participants who meet regularly for meetings but also informally. It is also one of the larger interfaith organizations in the country which is active not only in the City of Philadelphia but also the outer suburbs of the tristate area. Over thirty-five representatives from the Sikh, Jewish, Muslim, Bahai and Christian including various denominations were present.

 Msgr. Hennessy who represented the Catholics spoke of walking together with other faith communities by building bridges to positively impacting local communities.

 Rev Robert Collier representing the ’57 Blocks Strategy’ again spoke passionately on the issue of violence in neighborhoods of Philadelphia and impressing upon the faith leaders to help support the de-escalation of guns, as eventually it could spread outward to the suburbs, negatively impacting many more.

 During the discussions Kavneet Singh shared his views regarding the ongoing transnational repression which started earlier with the ’Sustained Sikh Genocide 1984 – 1998’ and the importance of others knowing about the impact and the continuing trauma through generations within the Sikh community.

 Representatives from the American Sikh Council (ASC) have been actively participating in the interfaith meetings and many outreach events in conjunction with the Interfaith Philadelphia for over 19 years.

 The American Sikh Council is the umbrella organization representative of Sikhs in the United States. It is an elected body of Sikh Gurdwaras and institutions. Currently 74 Gurdwaras and other Sikh institutions across the nation are members of ASC. The major governing purpose of the organization is to represent the collective view of Sikhs in the United States. ASC works to promote Sikh interests at the national and international level focusing on issues of advocacy, education, and well-being of humankind.