Canada: Two Injured In Protest Outside Gurudwara In Alberta Province

At least two persons were injured in a violence that erupted during a protest in front of a gurdwara in the northeast Calgary district of Alberta province in Canada on Sunday. According to Calgary police, 50 to 100 people were involved in a fight during a protest outside the gurdwara. The cops got two calls requesting intervention at the Dashmesh Culture Centre earlier that day, each for different disturbances between the protesters and the building’s occupants. After that, the officers rushed to the spot in order to de-escalate the situation. However no weapons were involved in the fight and there was no arrest, police said. Calgary Police has not revealed any details about what triggered the fight.

As per the PTI report, Gurpartap Baidwan, one of the protest organisers, said some of the Gurudwara congregation gathered in opposition to the temple’s elected leadership committee. “We were meeting to oppose their various bylaw violations and a series of wrongdoings and grievances,” he told Canada’s CTV News. Baidwan robustly said the leadership was not following the rules of their faith or obeying the governance of the Sikh religion. “They are required to abide by the Sikh Rehat Maryada that is issued by the Akal Takht, which is kind of like our Vatican,” he added.

“The issue that we’re having is that this committee that has come in is acting outside those parameters. They are not just violating the Sikh Rehat Maryada, which is the Sikh code of conduct, but they are also violating the institution’s bylaws as prescribed under Alberta law in the form of being a non-profit organisation.” Baidwan said the protests began on December 24, making it a 15-day protest that continued throughout the night in the cold weather.

He alleged that the committee members had not come to meet the protesters even once.