US Sikhs ask Obama to visit Pak gurudwaras

Washington: Disappointed, but determined not to give up, the Sikh community in the US now wants President Barack Obama to visit gurudwaras in Pakistan when he visits the country next year, after Amritsar's Golden Temple was not included in his India trip in November.
     
"With the White House's confirmation of President Obama's visit to Pakistan in 2011, we want to implore the President to visit Sikh places of worship on that trip," 'United Sikhs', a US-based Sikh organisation, said in a statement, urging the American Sikh community to mobilise support in this regard.
    
"United Sikhs is disappointed that President Obama will not be visiting Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) on his trip to India next month," it said.
    
Although the community feels "disheartened" by this decision, United Sikhs will actively encourage the US President to visit Sikh places of worship in America and abroad, it said.
    
In a press briefing yesterday on Obama's India visit from November 6 to 9, White House Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communication, Ben Rhodes, said: "It's a big country where we'd like to do a lot of things."
    
"It's an extraordinary country and we can never do as many events as we'd like to do," he said.
    
During his November trip to Asia, the President has planned visits to Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim places of worship, he said.