Current Events
Politics and Greed Plague Our Gurdwaras
by RAVEENA AULAKH
Sunday's pitched battle at a gurdwara in Brampton (Ontario, Canada) can be traced to a bitter conflict over politics and the control of millions of dollars.
When two warring groups clashed at the Guru Nanak Sikh Centre, turbans flew and blows were exchanged before machetes, hammers and construction knives were brandished. Four people were injured and three were charged with assault. Each side said the other incited the violence.
It was the most extreme example of internal conflict at a gurdwara in the Toronto area in recent times but it was by no means the only one. Few of the almost two-dozen gurdwaras in the Toronto area have been untouched by controversies, mostly pertaining to different factions vying for control.
Currently there is a power struggle at four gurdwaras, including the Ontario Khalsa Darbar at Derry and Dixie Roads in Mississauga, one of the largest ones in Canada.
"It's all about greed," said Sandeep Singh Brar, amateur historian and creator of sikhmuseum.com. "The congregation is growing rapidly and much money is being offered at the gurdwaras. The issue at heart here is who controls the money."
At stake are millions of dollars.
Ontario's Sikh community is relatively well-to-do and, in terms of charitable giving, extraordinarily generous. Anyone can worship at the gurdwara anytime and services are followed by communal meals open to all.
At each gurdwara is at least one donation box. As a result, most temples are rich.
The Guru Nanak Sikh Centre, for example, has assets worth more than $30 million and annual offerings of more than $2 million, said Nachhattar Singh Chohan, one of the board members who have taken temple management to court. "There is no transparency, no accountability," he said.
No one will talk openly about it but there have been rumblings of misappropriation of funds at temples for years.
In 2008, a YouTube video surfaced showing a board member at Guru Nanak Sikh Centre stuffing his pockets while counting money donated by the congregation. "There was outrage among the community but the temple management then said it was a fabrication," said Rajinder Singh Sandhu, now a board member.
Apart from money, gurdwaras that are well attended every weekend and on special occasions are also a platform to promote political agendas.
"It doesn't sound (like) much, but it's very important," said Gurdev Singh Mann, president of the North York Sikh Gurdwara, which is not affiliated with any umbrella Sikh organization.
Temple managements decide which politicians to invite to events which thousands attend, added Gurdev. "It's all about who they want to give the platform to. If it's a politician management doesn't care for, they'll ask him to speak at a time when few people are there."
The Guru Nanak Sikh Centre, with the largest congregation in the province, is considered a Liberal stronghold even though some gurdwaras unofficially banned MPs Navdeep Singh Bains and Ruby Kaur Dhalla after they voted in favour of same-sex marriages about five years ago.
Being connected with gurdwaras is also a status symbol, said Balraj Singh Deol, editor of Khabarnama, a Brampton Punjabi weekly. "You are considered important and influential ... People will do anything for it."
Some even resort to violence, as recent events have shown.
Pritpal Singh, 46, understands that people have differences, but "violence inside gurdwaras is unacceptable to people."
Pritpal was at the Glidden Road gurdwara when the fight broke out. "I tried to stop some people who were hitting others with hammers and machetes but they started hitting me instead."
He was bruised and has a cut on his forehead, but that's not what really bothers him. "Violence bothers me. Gurdwaras should be free of controversy. They should be what they are meant to be: Places of worship."
[Courtesy: The Toronto Star]
April 21, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Kanwar (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 10:32 AM.
One simple solution is to just give less. If enough sangat members do this, then greed will at least be less of a problem.
2: Pardeep Singh Nagra (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 12:26 PM.
I think the title and comments in the article are very misleading and allows us to remove ourselves from responsibility. First and foremost, the gurdwaras have played, and continue to play, a very important role in our community and the greater community. We as a community continually put more and more pressure and burden on the gurdwaras to meet all of our community needs, from weddings to funerals, special services like Akhand Patths, and programs like Punjabi classes, and have failed to create any institutions beyond the walls of the gurdwara in Canada to meet the growing needs of our community. The issue first and foremost is the violence and we must as a community find ways to address issues within our community in more productive and positive ways. The Sikh community is full of skills and resources of human capital: it is time we also step up to the plate. Furthermore, we must learn how to address our community issues and not spew irresponsible comments openly in the public and media. The consequences of such are evident. I am not naive enough to not know that we do have some issues in our community and in particular the gurdwaras. But I am equally not naive to think people are becoming millionaires from gurdwaras. Managing gurdwaras or any such insitution is not easy and many people have sacrificed time, money and family to even have these buildings built and continue functioning. Most of us simply show up, give a monetary token, eat and leave ... that's the easy part.
3: M. Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 12:27 PM.
Giving less is fine. What we really need is organized leadership from the top political institutions in Sikhism who have the authority to organize and reform how finances are used in all gurdwaras across the world.
4: Sandeep Singh Brar (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 12:55 PM.
We don't need to give less and choke off our gurdwaras. We have to build them up and make them strong centers of our community as they play a vital spiritual role. I feel that many of these problems will go away over the next 10 to 20 years as the torch is passed on to a new generation who have grown up here and have experience in conflict resolution, project management and financial management learned at the workplace and can bring those professional skills to running our Sikh institutions. The transformation from an agrarian society where clan and group ties are strong and disagreements 'back home' often result in conflict to get your way will be replaced over time. There are a lot of good, well-meaning folks working tirelessly at the gurdwaras and their work and effort should not be disregarded because of the actions of a few mischief-makers. Remember, many of the sevadaars are doing their best and learning by trial and error without any model to follow - most of the gurdwaras in Punjab are run and managed by one central body (the S.G.P.C.) vs. here where each gurdwara is an independent business and legal entity. Over time, we may see the eventual formation of regional and national governing bodies and councils to oversee and run our gurdwaras and you can see many of the gurdwaras already taking positive steps in that direction by working together on issues or campaigns. Once you remove issues related to policies and funds from the hands of one or a few individuals and put them in the hands of broader based regional and national governing bodies representing the sangat, then you will see less fights, legal battles, financial mismanagement and bullying. Let's keep a positive attitude and work individually and collectively towards that goal of harmony, representing the true spirit of what a gurdwara should be rather than turning our backs on the gurdwaras.
5: Bachittar Singh (Chandigarh, Punjab), April 21, 2010, 12:57 PM.
With due respect - Giving less is NOT fine. We should never find excuses to skip or reduce contributing our daswandh in time, money and resources to the community. What we should do, however, is contribute sensibly and strategically. Look around and see which institutions in the community are needed ... and help build, support and nurture them. And, in the meantime, let's also look at the needs of the gurdwaras and tie our daswandh portion that we give them to those specifics.
6: Amandeep Singh (Paso Robles, California, U.S.A.), April 21, 2010, 2:51 PM.
I think the core of the problem is that we don't have defined duties in management of gurdwaras and they are not paid positions. I don't see why the president or other executives of a gurdwara should not be paid. This salary should be made clear. The president's place of employment should be the gurdwara only, not another place also. This will allow for that person to be aware of all the happenings in the gurdwara. It seems that everyone in the gurdwara wants to portray that he is in charge and we Sikhs love power. From my knowledge, Christian institutions have paid positions. Furthermore, the chain of communication within the gurdwara management should be clear. Once again, everyone at the gurdwara pretends to be the "boss". The egos are clearly evident. From experience, I don't even like asking some sevaadars where the napkins are. They bite your head off - (and I'm a 6ft. Sardar!)
7: Gurmit Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 3:13 PM.
I remember the good ol' days when they used field hockey sticks! Gurmit
8: Manpreet Kaur (Coventry, United Kingdom), April 21, 2010, 4:15 PM.
I'm not sure if it is such a great idea to introduce salaries for the executive. I think what you are getting at ... or should be ... is that there should be a paid, full-time management staff, separate from the overseeing committee. With the kind of income most of our gurdwaras have, there is no reason why they cannot hire an MBA to run each institution! Most of the problems would be solved with that one step alone.
9: Sukh (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), April 21, 2010, 4:51 PM.
On the lighter side, in response to Gurmit Singh's hockey sticks comment, have you noticed these stick-handlers proclaiming themselves as "daas" at the podium. Talk about having a blindspot for ego. Sometimes I really wonder about human ignorance and totally relate to gurbani on this issue of ego. Why can't we reflect and watch ourselves in different situations and reconcile all those different personalities in us to the one we like to show in public. Maybe then we would be worthy of calling ourselves human ... and Sikh!
10: Gur Singh (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.), April 21, 2010, 5:49 PM.
Sikh leaders (esp. S.G.P.C.) should take a lead and take responsibility for making things transparent and accountable to the whole Sikh community. If the S.G.P.C. doesn't take the initiative, Sikh journals like sikhchic.com can create a link on their front page where the gurdwara managements voluntarily post the details of every penny collected and spent. When Sikhs will know who is spending where, then the right golak (collection box) can be filled by them and the corrupt ones be shut down.
11: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), April 21, 2010, 7:19 PM.
Some years ago there was this grdwara's election in the offing, with the usual war drums befitting a national election. There were the ubiquitous brickbats, at least verbal ones, when someone suggested, as a compromise, to choose a non-entity, neutral candidate for this august post. Lo and behold, he won. In his thanksgiving speech to the sadh sangat, he humbly mentioned that he was not laayak (fit) for this post. Someone spoke up: "Sit down, sit down, we only require people who are 'na-laayak'" - that is, those who are unfit! If said in chaste Punjabi, it has its own incomparable flavour. Another story: On money matters, this woman while waiting in the queue to go into the inner sanctum, saw the jathedar coming and promptly put the a Rs.100 note at his feet. He humbly withdrew his feet saying "Waheguru, Waheguru, Bibi, go inside and 'mathaa tek' to the Guru." The Bibi replied that since the money was eventually going to reach him (the jathedar), she thought why bring the Guru in between. Please fill in the name of the gurdwara of your choice.
12: Parveen Kaur (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 8:52 PM.
On a lighter note ... and perhaps in a cheeky way, thank God they did not use a kirpan this time! I guess we did learn from the previous incident! I still firmly believe that The Star is purposely portraying our community in a biased manner. Just over one week ago they had a picture of a Sardar on the front page who was allegedly caught up in a car fraud scheme. I do not condone his actions but I hardly believe that this story merited front page coverage. The latest episodes are our own doing, but I bet the folks at the Star couldn't wait to sink their teeth into the recent shenanigans. I am the only one who has this belief? Where are the stories about how our community raises millions of dollars for hospitals and all. This is not about greed, it is about control. Gurdwaras traditionally have been the seat of power for Sikhs in Canada and India, but for very different reasons. In India, the issues have more to do with establishing religious edicts. Here the struggle is a bit different, first generation immigrants who have laboured in blue collar jobs exert their influence and power in the gurdwara, the one place that would safely allow them to do so. Wrestling for control and power is the dominant issue, not the management filling their pockets with money donated from the sangat. We have to remember that if they did, the eyes of truth are watching and everything eventually is uncovered. Perhaps, as the sangat, we should recognize that not all of us go to the gurughar with pure intentions. The sangat can be just as culpable as the management. I don't think any one of us is in the position to point fingers at anyone.
13: Parveen Kaur (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), April 21, 2010, 9:05 PM.
I forgot to mention that in any religion in the world, it is hard to separate religion from politics. Recent headline stories convey the cover-up by the Catholic church of sexual abuse committed by priests. Why are they so adamant about hiding it allt? To maintain the power of the priesthood and that of the Catholic church. So, mingling of religion and politics is hardly just a problem within our community, it is universal. I don't think we should dismiss or diminish ourselves in regards to this issue. Politicians have actively sought out the Sikh community to garner votes, they know that we all will stand behind one of our own. How many other communities do you see in which even the elderly and frail wait in line to vote? Good for us! We have the power to elect people to public office, this is a great feat that even the powers-to-be on the Hill are fully aware of! Of course, they all come to the gurdwara because it is the nucleus of the community!
14: Raj (Canada), April 21, 2010, 10:32 PM.
Gurdwaras are not the only place to donate. Dasvandh can be given to the needy, directly or through accountable organizations. Personally, I don't pay a dime to any organization, that doesn't mean i don't give to charity. I'm sure we have friends or family that can't afford to send kids to good schools in India. You can put them through school. As far as gurdwara offerings are concerned, I was shown first hand corruption at Keshgarh Sahib where a "sevaadar" was putting parchees into his pocket instead of the locked drum which is used for subsequent auditing. I haven't paid a cent to any gurdwara since then.
15: Gurjender Singh (Maryland, U.S.A.), April 21, 2010, 11:00 PM.
One needs a million dollars to get the media to cover the good things Sikhs do around the world. But it costs no money for the media to give front-page coverage to incidents of fighting in and around gurdwaras, to defame Sikhi and the Sikh religion. There are more and more gurbani kirtans and kathas and paatths being performed nowadays, then why is there so much conflict and lack of understanding among members of the gurdwara committees. God help us.
16: Kartar Singh Bhalla (New Delhi, India), April 22, 2010, 1:17 AM.
A new constitutional set-up is required to put things right. 1) S.G.P.C. (Amritsar) has control over gurdwaras in Punjab and, maybe, also in Haryana. It does not have control over gurdwaras in Delhi. Delhi has a separate gurdwara parbandhak committee. Sikhs in Canada, USA, UK, Malaysia may consider having a separate parbandhak committee for each country to decide large policy matters and to oversee the general condition and working of gurdwaras in its country of jurisdiction. A 'sarbat khalsa' may be held in each country to consider this matter and to evolve a constitutional set-up for each country. 2) Let each gurdwara in each country have an executive committee to organize and supervise day-to-day working of the gurdwara, facilitate social and religious functions and be accountable to the country's parbandhak committee. (3) No function in a gurdwara should take place without the consent of the executive committee. (This rule will avoid clashes on issues like Prof. Darshan Singh ji's visit to the gurdwara to do kirtan.) 3) No office bearer of any gudrwara may hold office for more than 2 consecutive years. 4) A general meeting of each gurdwara may be held every year in the presence of an 'observer' to be appointed by the country's parbandhak committee. 5) If the situation requires, a special meeting of the gurdwara may be held during the year provided 2/3 of the members of the gurdwara demand such a meeting. 6) For holding elections every year, a Returning Officer, a neutral member of the gurdwara, may be appointed to conduct elections and elections may be held within a fortnight of such an appointment. During this period, the Returning Officer shall exercise all functions without any interference from outgoing executive committee. The constitutional set-up suggested by me can be fine-tuned to suit the ambience of each country.
17: Gehna Kaur Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), April 22, 2010, 10:39 AM.
Following Parveen's post: it's easy to blame the media and suggest they have a particular 'bias' towards one community versus another. Not only easy, but dangerous, as we loose sight of the real issue at hand. For reference, if you look at historical coverage by The Toronto Star ("The Star"), there is no indication of 'bias' or ulterior motives at play. The Star is simply doing what they do, and that is - reporting on the news. And the bottom line: these recent events qualify as news and frankly have for a long time, though The Star is only just spotlighting it now. The 'management teams' at the gurdwaras have been flirting with disaster for a while and the media are prudent in holding them accountable (in a public forum) for their actions. This is the media's role in society and we as a community must learn to work with this effectively. The frustration here is misplaced. We are in urgent need of articulate and reponsive 'spokespeople' who can address the issue, contextualize it and move the story forward. Until we identify and support these individuals, we will continue to see headlines that make us grimace. A Side Note: For those who live outside the Toronto core, the fraud story Parveen referenced in her post appeared a few weeks ago. Along with the picture of the turbaned Sikh man, there were two other images of those involved in the scam as well. I realize seeing a turbaned Sikh portrayed negatively in the media is unsettling; nevertheless, there needs to be an understanding that we also have our fair share of unsavoury characters, just like any other community. Let's get over this and begin focusing on the core issue.