Caught On Camera: In US Gurudwara, Fight With Sticks, Pepper Spray

Mangalore Today News Network

Jan 13, 2016: A video shows violence breaking out among the worshippers gathered at a gurudwara in California as rival factions competing to control the gurudwara clashed on the weekend.

 

The video is posted on www.sikh24.com, which reports the violence involved the use of "pepper spray, musical instruments and wooden-sticks - incorrectly reported by local news media as Kirpans, or Sikh articles of Faith."

Another website, http://dailysikhupdates.com/, reports that there were 100 people gathered when the fight began and that some devotees at the Sikh temple made calls summoning emergency help.

A local TV channel said there has "long been a rift between two factions here, each with its own idea of how the temple should be run". The TV station said it had been shown "a copy of a court order that appears to say a ruling on the leadership issue is currently under appeal".

In 2013, the video of a fight in a parking lot at the same gurudwara in Turlock was widely reported.