VANCOUVER – The Ross Gurdwara registration came to an end last weekend with 10,428 members registering. Election watchers and pundits predicted fewer than 8,000 members would register at best.
“This year’s massive turnout is a boost to the opposition,” said Sikh Sangat Seva Society. “The numbers do not lie.”
Last election, there were two opposition groups. This year they have united as Sikh Sangat Seva Society and have been quick to point to membership numbers as clear evidence of their wave of support.
Readers will recall that the costly ongoing court battle for control ended when the BC Supreme Court found that the current Gurdwara committee failed to sign up members in a fair and transparent manner. The courts nullified all previous memberships.
Only memberships registered after January 27, 2016 are valid and eligible to vote in the upcoming September election. In preparation, the opposition has united in hopes of ending the reign of nearly twenty years of a one-party rule and what it calls, “Jurassic thinking and old-fashioned ways.”
Sikh Sagat Seva Society, under the leadership of the late Amar Singh Sandhu, challenged the current executive on various fronts. “Amar put in a great deal of time and financially supported this project that resulted in equal representation during enrollment to ensure a fair election. If the process that was ordered by the Courts had been implemented, as requested by Sikh Sangat from the start, then hundreds of thousands of dollars would have been saved. Unfortunately, our many requests fell to deaf years”.
Some issues brought up in court were of membership forms being picked up from people’s homes contrary to the rules, payments for memberships being made multiple times with same receipt, unsigned membership forms, duplicate memberships and the denial to the opposition to access membership lists and denying blank membership forms. “The current process, under the watchful eye of a third party, was fair and we expect the election to run just as smoothly”, explained the opposition.
Sikh Sangat at a recent public meeting highlighted the need for change. “The current group has been in control for too long and we need new fresh faces that will bring a positive progressive a change. There is no vision and no plan for the future”.
Avtar S. Bhullar expressed why the change was so important now and that there was a need to get the youth involved and deal with their many issues. “There needs to be a new energy and engagement of the youth in a positive manner. This has not happened in years. A positive change brings excitement and motivates people. Sikh Sangat with the community’s support can make it happen. Together we can make things better”.
Another member of the opposition, Manjit Singh Cheema, was previously with the current Ross group and served on the committee for the past three years. He presents a direct threat to the current power group.
During his term, Cheema claims that he had made multiple requests to the current committee for full financial disclosure and access to financial records but his requests were denied even though he was a member of the committee. He labeled the current group’s reign as “a dictatorship” that provided him with no answers to financial questions. A highly educated and qualified finance expert, he finally resigned and left the current committee’s group last year.
Recently, Cheema expressed his frustrations on live Punjabi radio about how the current group functions and why change is necessary. He had many financial and operations-related questions for the party in power and asked why things were being hidden and transparency not present.
Gurdev Singh Johal, a former multi term moderate Ross president and successful businessman in the farming industry who yields a great deal of respect and support from the community, has also put his support behind Sikh Sangat. He publically expressed the need for a change at a recent Sikh Sangat forum.
“We all need to work together and ensure there are no more Gurdwara court battles. Things must be done fairly regardless of who is in power. Financial transparency and accountability is a must. A full audit will deliver us with the true state of the financial affairs.”
Sikh Sangat emphasized that the Ross Gurdwara was in debt twenty years ago and it has an even larger debt now. “Why is it that Akali Singh and Guru Nanak Niwas (#5 Road, Richmond) are flourishing and Ross Gurdwara is failing? Quite simply, the management,” charged Sikh Sangat.
The opposition group also made it clear that this election will not be about tables and chairs, a fear tactic the current group is using. “This election will be about issues. Tables and chairs will remain as they are and with the inclusion of many moderate members into Sikh Sangat, such as Gurdev S. Johal, everyone understands that it will not be furniture, but rather, the issues that will decide the outcome.”
