An under-construction gurdwara, which was set to serve Portland metro area’s largest Sikh community in Washington state, was destroyed in a massive fire and the FBI has started a probe into the cause of the incident.
The former athletic-club-turned-Sikh-gurdwara burned to the ground early Friday after the fire sparked just before 2.30 am local time at the property in the east Vancouver Landover-Sharmel neighbourhood.
Being built on a 2.5 acre land at an estimated cost of half a million dollars, the Gurdwara was in its final phase of its construction. It also included a school for Sikh children. No casualty was reported in the incident.
The FBI, along with other local agencies, is looking into the cause of the fire with the Sikh leaders in the US not ruling out the possibility of a hate crime.
“Cause of the fire is still not known but there is a possibility of hate crime behind this fire as there have been some concerns by the neighbours regarding the Gurdwara constructions; some have opposed the construction on ground that the Gurdwara services would turn the largely quiet neighbourhood noisy,” Satnam Singh Chahal, president of North American Punjabi Association said.
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Won’t arm enemies of India: Russia
New Delhi, Oct. 14: Russia on Sunday firmly assured India that it will not arm its “enemies” with visiting deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin also indicating Moscow’s willingness to expand cooperation in defence production by building a new transport aircraft and battle tanks.
“You must understand that we do not deal with your enemies. We don’t deliver any arms to them.... If you see otherwise, you may spit on my face,” Mr Rogozin told reporters here when asked if Russia would supply arms to Pakistan. He said Russia has no restrictions in delivering arms and weapons to India “because there are no conflicts and contradictions in our relations”.
Mr Rogozin, who will co-chair the Inter-governmental Commission meeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation with external affairs minister S.M. Krishna on Monday, said Russia was ready to cooperate with India in producing a transport plane with a payload of six tonnes as well as developing battle tanks. — PTI