In Bedford, Ohio, a dipute that is working its way through the courts required police to be present at midnight New Years Eve services at the Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Sikh Temple. Yesterday's Cleveland Plain Dealer reports on the dispute between less traditional Sikhs who are longtime members of the temple, and more numerous newcomers who favor a return to tradition, including beards and turbans. The longtime leadership also wishes to restrict who can be a voting member of the temple. But a group of the newcomers, claiming they are the newly elected leaders of the Temple, grabbed the microphone at the midnight prayer service, and then returned later Sunday to continue their takeover. Police finally left Sunday after the longtime leaders agreed to leave the temple.
A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge ruled in 2004 that the Temple's membership could be expanded with the many newcomers and that all members are entitled to vote and view financial records. That paved the way for the new leadership. But the old leaders filed a notice of appeal and aruge that until the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals rules, they should remain in place as Temple leaders.
