The incident took place at a famous Gurdwara in Northern California’s Turlock city and it came to light after a video of the chaos was made public. Soon after the fight began, the local police was called in to quell the brawl. The video shows Sikhs shoving and throwing punches at each other.
SAN FRACISCO – Two rival Sikh-American groups fighting for control of the Gurdwara resulted in intense verbal exchanges over the Golak and the control of the Gurdwara Sahib’s keys.
Several people were injured when a major fight broke out at the Gurdwara in California, apparently over leadership issue, according to media reports.
The incident took place at a famous Gurdwara in Northern California’s Turlock city and it came to light after a video of the chaos was made public.
Soon after the fight began, the local police was called in to quell the brawl. The video shows Sikhs shoving and throwing punches at each other, CBS news reported yesterday.
The report quoted some of the witnesses who said that some Sikhs were wielding kirpans (ceremonial swords) inside the Gurdwara.
Harinder Toor, a member of the Gurdwara who was inside when the melee started, said a dispute over shrine leadership turned violent as different factions had been fighting for power for years and the tension boiled over Sunday, according to the report.
Several people have sustained minor injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals. The police said no arrests were made as further investigations were underway. The Sutter County Superior Court Judge Brian Aronson issued orders to seal the Yuba City Gurdwara Sahib due to a power struggle among 2 groups.
The lawyer for the current committee argued that the Gurdwara has a history of violence and to prevent further violence it’s in the best interest to lock the doors because back in 2012 there was a fight which resulted in 2 people getting stabbed.
The lawyer told a local newspaper Appeal-Democrat that “Nobody gets in, nobody changes anything, nobody takes any money.”
It’s unclear on how long the Gurdwara will be closed but it appears it’ll remain closed until the two sides come to an agreement.
Local sangat expressed disappointment that the Gurdwara Sahib is a place of worship and that people come to attain peace and happiness but Golak greed caused the doors to be locked.
The dispute stems from a Dec. 25 emergency meeting of the board of directors at the Walnut Avenue Community Center.
Harbhajan S. Dheri was elected executive committee president, Palwinder S. Malhi was elected secretary and Sukhvinder Singh was elected treasurer, said board member Parminder S. Grewal.
At a Dec. 26 meeting, a vote was taken to throw out the election results, the lawyer said.
The results were voided because the election was conducted without following the temple’s bylaws and the civil code, including who called the meeting, who sent out notice for the meeting, where the meeting was held, and that the meeting was held on a holiday, Barrette said.
However, Malhi said the board of directors followed the bylaws in the Dec. 25 meeting, and the Dec. 26 meeting was the one held illegally because of actions taken at a Dec. 5 meeting.
“They called a meeting and didn’t have a quorum, so they filled the quorum illegally and removed five board of directors who didn’t agree with them, and put in eight new board of directors,” Malhi said.
The situation escalated on Dec. 31 when the newly formed committee came before the standing committee to get the keys to the temple and were denied. The newly formed committee left with the unlocked donation box from the day, and the standing committee took the locked box, Grewal said.
On new year’s day, the new committee changed the locks of the doors
Worldwide Sikh sangat have expressed outrage over the sealing of the Gurdwara and has appealed for immediate reconciliation of the matter.
