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By Asia Samachar Team | UK |
By Asia Samachar Team | UK |Popular Sikh group Nirvair Khalsa Jatha UK (NKJ) saw their programme at a London gurdwara on Saturday (8 Dec) scuttled when confronted by an opposing group.
Police had entered the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Hounslow to manage the situation.
The officers moved into the darbar sahib to control the situation that became rowdy just as the jatha was about to start their programme.
It is believed that the commotion boils down to the on-going running battles between groups supporting different interpretations of Gurbani, as witnessed at a number of earlier such incidences in a number of other countries.
The disruption is reminiscent of attempts to disrupt programmes by the hugely popular Punjab-based Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadriawale.
In Malaysia, one such incident had occurred in Ipoh in March 2017 when a section of the congregation had disrupted a scheduled sermon by repeating loudly the ‘Waheguru’ chant. See here.
In one video of the Hounslow incident on Saturday, circulating on the social media, a section of the congregation could also be heard repeating the Waheguru chant while a speaker was speaking, ignoring his appeal for them to desist.
When the Harinder Singh-led NKJ group were about to take the stage, the situation became more disrupted, eventually leading to the police entering the darbar sahib.
NKJ UK had recently suspended their programme in the UK after an incident in Leeds.
However, the jatha which was well received in Malaysia in the past, had decided to continue their programmes.
On 5 Dec, the jatha had released the following statement:
“Nirvair Khalsa Jatha UK will resume its Gurmat Parchar mission as of the coming weekend. The decision comes further to consultation with a number of Gurdwara management committees and the significant number of Sikhs in the UK who strongly support the work of the organisation.
“It can be noted that Nirvair Khalsa Jatha UK had issued a statement on 17th November 2018, communicating a decision to postpone all UK Diwaans until further notice. That decision had come in light of disruptions caused at scheduled Diwaans in Leicester last month. Evidently, the disruptions were part of a larger arrangement that is unfortunately working to ban Nirvair Khalsa Jatha UK from stages across the country.
“Nirvair Khalsa Jatha UK would like to thank the numerous Sikhs who have been sending messages and uploading videos of support on social media, and those Gurdwara management committees who have not wavered in their support for Gurmat Parchar, but instead encouraged the organisation to continue its work.”
In that statement, it also stated that the Hounslow programme on Saturday would proceed.