vwihgurU jI kI Piqh
For those of you that are not familiar with the notorious tables and chairs saga of a few years past in the greater Vancouver area, I would like to shed some light on this because it has been bothering me for quite some time. I can no longer stand the great disrespect that has been shown to the authority of Shri Akhal Takhat Sahib. I just had to vent my anger. These "moderates" are pissing me off more and more every time I drive by the gurdwara building. Because of the mistakes of a handful, the whole community is paying for it. They have sown eternal thorns that will remain scattered on the path to one community. Deep divisions have been created and who knows when the community will get back to being ONE again.
Today I just wanted to take a look at what the media reported in those days of violence. Both sides were guilty of bad judgment and putting self interests before sikhi. That one incident gave a bad name to the entire community. Years of building up respect went the way of the ISYF in an instant. I remember well how our neighbors wife was dead scared because her son was caught in the rumble and the police had barricaded the building. I remember listening to the radio and wondering if the things that took place in the gurdwara were really that serious. It came as a total shock to me that anything like this would ever happen.
Immediately after the incident there were "breaking news" reports on TV. They with great selection showed people screaming and yelling. They showed blood in the floor and police dogs jumping around. They showed people all cut up and bleeding. Anyone that saw that would have become a total sikh hater.
The outcomes of this were devastating and painful. It divided families and friends. It posed major problems for kids going to school. I think that the "moderate/fundamentalist" divide is the worse thing to hit BC sikhs ever. I think I will stop here and post the rest of my thoughts later.
I leave you with this which I found today and you can judge what kind of impressions the ISYF and Koamnshuts made of sikhi:
"Sword Swinging Melee Erupts as Factions Clash in Surrey Sikh Temple"
Perhaps, control freak Justice Minister Allan Rock should consider registering swords. In Surrey, B.C., they're more dangerous than guns. "Police charged three men with assault and weapons offences [January 13] after a wild sword-swinging melee at a Sikh temple on Saturday [January 11] left four people injured -- one man with slash wounds to his head and neck. A fourth man wanted for attempted murder turned himself in to police in Surrey. A Canada-wide arrest warrant had been issued for Piara Singh Panasar, 48, who also faces one charge of aggravated assault and a weapons charge.
RCMP said the risk of new violence looms over the Guru Nanak temple in suburban Surrey despite efforts to engineer talks between warring moderates and fundamentalists. 'In the long run, we don't know how we're going to be able to work to resolve this,' Constable Grant Learned said." (Globe and Mail, January 14, 1997) The temple is used by about 17,000 of B.C.'s 110,000 Sikhs. The violence was expected by authorities. "Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum and police warned [December 27, 1996] that the dispute between religious moderates and fundamentalists at Guru Nanak Sikh Temple will escalate into violence unless the two groups can reconcile their differences. ... Guru Nanak vice-president Balwant Gill ... described the fundamentalists as 'militant terrorists', adding that it would be inappropriate to enter mediation when the temple is pursuing assault charges against some of them. The moderate group won a narrow majority of seats on the executive of the 17,000-member Surrey temple a year ago, ending 10 years of political control by the fundamentalists. [On December 21], RCMP responded to a call at the Surrey temple after about 100 people, three allegedly brandishing swords, hurled tables and chairs out of the temple's dining hall.
Although it is traditional for Sikhs to sit on the floor for temple meals, some observers say that control of the temple -- not a break with tradition -- is behind the dispute. Moderates who now control the temple allege that the fundamentalist faction was using much of the temple's income -- about $100,000 a month -- to support Sikh militants in India, instead of concentrating on needs of the local Sikh community. The fundamentalists, many of whom are members of the International Sikh Youth Federation, advocate violence in the pursuit of an independent Sikh homeland in India known as Khalistan." (Vancouver Sun, December 28, 1996)
vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw
vwihgurU jI kI Piqh
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