Managements of gurdwaras push back against ‘ban’ on Indian officials

TORONTO:Several

gurdwara managements in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta have joined the ban on Indian officials, and for the first time, among those prohibited from their premises are members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

But as the movement spreads in Canada, members of the management committees of multiple gurdwaras in Ontario, where the trend started, have said the decision was not approved by the relevant governing bodies.

Four members of the Ontario Khalsa Darbar (or Dixie gurdwara) said that though their president Gurpreet Singh Bal made the original announcement, they “were not aware about this decision, and this issue was never discussed in the committee meeting and no resolution was passed”.

They went on to add that the boycott decision “could be Gurpreet Singh Bal’s personal opinion”. The committee members who are opposing the ban are Gurinder Singh Bhullar, Navjeet Singh, Amrik Singh Deol and Paramjeet Singh Boleena.

Members of gurdwara managements at two places of worship in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, too have come out against the ban.

Five directors of Sri Guru Nanak Sikh Center and Gurdwara Sikh Sangat (Brampton) issued a joint statement, saying they were “surprised” that the announcement included their names. “We want to make it clear,” they said, that the committees “never discussed this..., pass(ed) this matter and no one has been allowed to add these two names (of the gurdwaras) in the list”. They maintained they were open to anyone and “there is no such restriction now”.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by a spokesperson for the Western gurdwaras, Moninder Singh, said the “recent steps” taken by gurdwaras in Ontario to impose the ban on Indian officials was “a strong declaration that Sikhs residing in Canada will not give in or bow down to the interference and pressure placed upon them by the Indian state and their representatives”.