UK News
Leamington Spa, Warwick (UK) – (KP) Gurdwara Sahib Leamington & Warwick which is currently in the hold of pro-Indian, anti-Panthic communist minded individuals, is once again under the media spot light.
Recently, members of the former Gurdwara Sahib committee have been granted the right to share information about a legal case that was happening with members of the current management committee.
In January 2012, former Mayors of Leamington Spa, Mota Singh, Balvinder Gill and Balraj Dhesi along with Ranjit Hayer, the current Stage Sectary of Gurdwara Sahib Leamington & Warwick, and Shalvinder Mali admitted that they had fabricated lies against Jagtar Singh Gill, Satnam Singh, Narinder Singh, Gumit Singh and Phulvinder Singh and accepted an out of court settlement during a High Court trial.
The five who admitted wrong doing now face £250,000 legal costs bill. In April 2010 the ‘Defendants’ went on a crusade to disrupt the Gurdwara projects in progress and stop Sikhi Parchaar in Leamington Spa by distributing leaflets in which they ‘knowingly misled’ the Sikh community through lies and deception. The communist group led by these named five individuals spread lies that the former Gurdwara Management Committee had intended to evict the elderly people from their current site within the Gurdwara complex site amongst other lies. They were unable to produce evidence of the serious allegations they had made.
- Cllr Balvinder Gill, Cllr Balraj Dhesi and Cllr Mota Singh
In January 2012, the Defendants accepted an outside settlement that the Claimants had made in November 2011. This involved them agreeing that they must never repeat the allegations they had made, agreeing to issue a joint statement, and to pay all the legal costs of the Claimants incurred up to 31st January 2012. Within 2 weeks of the claim being settled the Defendants paid £150,000 towards the Claimants’ costs.
Gurbani states:
ਪਾਇ ਕੁਹਾੜਾ ਮਾਰਿਆ ਗਾਫਲਿ ਅਪੁਨੈ ਹਾਥਿ ||੧੩||
“The idiot strikes his own foot with the axe by his own hand.”
In a statement, the Claimants said, “The biggest loss of following the Defendants publications is that the local Sikh community has been left divided and the projects such as the wedding hall & sports centre, the Gurdwara Sahib garden, the Sikh heritage centre may never be realised or at best have been severely delayed. This is a big loss to the Sikhs of Leamington & Warwick.”
Many Sikhs believe that Gurdwara Sahib Leamington & Warwick has been infiltrated by the Indian government. Only last November, the current Communist minded committee claimed that the Panth’s Shaheeds like Bhai Beant Singh, Bhai Satwant Singh, Bhai Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda were terrorists and refused to allow posters advertising an annual Shaheedi Akhand Paath with their pictures in the Gurdwara. One committee member openly claimed that if an Akhand Paath can be held for Shaheed Bhai Beant Singh and Bhai Satwant Singh then an Akhand Paath should be held for Indira Gandhi because she is also a ‘Shaheed’. An Ardaas for Bhai Balwant Singh’s chardikala near the time he was supposed to be given the death penalty was refused permission. Evidence has been brought forward suggesting that the main leader of the group controlling the Gurdwara, Cllr Mota Singh, has close links with the butcher of the Sikhs in Punjab, Sumedh Saini. When Baba Daljit Singh Daduwale visited Leamington Spa Gurdwara he was told that he is not allowed to mention Amrit, eating meat, drinking alcohol, freedom, Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale or anything to do with Sikhs being harassed and oppressed in India.
In an alarmingly incline of intimidation, harassment and efforts to prevent Parchaar of Sikhi, the current Gurdwara management has forced the Gatka classes out of the Gurdwara, asked money from the local Sikh youth for holding Sikhi talks at the Gurdwara, asking the weekly Simran programme run by youngsters to pay for electricity costs, and banning respected elderly Amritdhari men and women from entering the Gurdwara kitchen and doing any sewa for five years for ludicrous reasons like cooking ‘chips’ (fried potatoes) during an Akhand Paath and apparently making pizza when those accused were not even in charge of the Langar.
According to the local sangat, current management committee’s antics create an unwelcome atmosphere at the Gurdwara for Amritdharis in general, and sees as they would prefer a non-observant heretical congregation than those who are Gurmat oriented to keep control of the Gurdwara management.
