Today's Windsor (ON) Star reports on a law suit that has a Canadian court in the middle of a factional dispute at a Sikh Gurdwara in Windsor, Ontario. A power struggle among leaders of the Sikh Cultural Society of Metropolitan Windsor began in 2009 when a new executive was proclaimed. The old officers refused to relinquish power and revoked membership of the newly elected officials. According to the paper's report: "Police have been called to the temple after heated arguments. One new member of the temple's executive committee says he was physically attacked in the driveway of his home while another says shots were fired at his house."
Three court orders have now been entered in the dispute. In the first order, the court reinstated the newly elected officers. On Monday the court issued a restraining order barring the old leaders from going within one kilometer of the Gurdwara Khalsa Parkash unless they are attending religious services. They must give up possession of the premises and may not pass themselves off as authorized to represent the Society. Finally, 25 people named in the restraining order may not go within one kilometer of the homes of the new executive members. The contentiousness has led enough of the new board member to resign that the executive does not have a quorum. So in March the court will begin going through the membership records to determine who is a bona fide member entitled to vote for new executive members.
