Mergers So That Only 1 Gurdwara Per Local Area?

[UKLondonSikh]

... rather than several Gurdwaray in a Pind or here in the West?

As far as I know even Gurdwara are only meant to be named "Local Area" Gurdwara rather than after any individual (no matter how supreme the individual was ... if I can even use that word) as Guru Sahib reminded us never to deflect from rememberance of God first and foremost.

Can the youth in the West force such a change within 5 years? How can we do it?

By perhaps flooding local memberships to force Gurdwaray to merge through weight of Sangat opinion?

SGPC must have said something about this (or have they shockingly remained silent?)

A joint Nagar Kirtan but memberships that restrict a person from being a member (on the basis of both parents not being such & such) sickens me.

Without unity on such a basic principle, the crooked disunity+discrimination managements are trying to kill the Panth from within far worse than what Indira did in 1984 or even the 300,000 Sikhs the Punjabi's from Nankana Sahib side killed in 1947.

The empty Gurdwara sites would be used for the community for sports/elderly/TEFL etc and/or sold to push charitable aims like how Khalsa Aid, Sukrit Trust etc to name but two are doing their best to help Sikh and non-Sikhs alike where need is greatest

[Balait_da_Sher]

Now this I agree with. One huge gurdwara which has thousands of Sikhs attending each day/week. How good would that be?

[UKLondonSikh]

We can do it Paji. One day it's gana happen. The youth are already in support of this. Problem is the old timers crowd who came here from India control the Gurdwaray committees. But those stupid Bhangra records that promote caste affinity don't help things. And the Vienna business put us back as well. Shame that certain people don't know about Giani Ditt Singh ... when they accuse certain overtly united Gurdwaray as belonging to one section of the community

[MokhamSingh]

... rather than several Gurdwaray in a Pind or here in the West?

As far as I know even Gurdwara are only meant to be named "Local Area" Gurdwara rather than after any individual (no matter how supreme the individual was ... if I can even use that word) as Guru Sahib reminded us never to deflect from rememberance of God first and foremost.

Can the youth in the West force such a change within 5 years? How can we do it?

By perhaps flooding local memberships to force Gurdwaray to merge through weight of Sangat opinion?

SGPC must have said something about this (or have they shockingly remained silent?)

A joint Nagar Kirtan but memberships that restrict a person from being a member (on the basis of both parents not being such & such) sickens me.

Without unity on such a basic principle, the crooked disunity+discrimination managements are trying to kill the Panth from within far worse than what Indira did in 1984 or even the 300,000 Sikhs the Punjabi's from Nankana Sahib side killed in 1947.

The empty Gurdwara sites would be used for the community for sports/elderly/TEFL etc and/or sold to push charitable aims like how Khalsa Aid, Sukrit Trust etc to name but two are doing their best to help Sikh and non-Sikhs alike where need is greatest

Khalsa Ji

The fundamental fact remains that as long as people have financial power then different groups will build their separate Gurdwaras. I remember as a kid attending the one and only Gurdwara in our town where people from all backgrounds attended. It was a lovely cosy atmosphere , very family like. There were the Punjab migrants who were farmers , shoe makers , carpenters , merchanta etc.. But all attended and participated in the one Gurdwara Sahib. As time went by the Sikh community started becoming affluent and as such the farmers started throwing their weight around with the shoe makers and carpenters. These folk put up with the situation upto a certain point but eventually they parted company and built their own Gurdwaras. It's a shame because we have a multi million pound Gurdwara but no cosy family atmosphere anymore. The multimillion pound Gurdwara ia already experiencing financial problems whereas the other Gurdwaras are very successful. I feel that only financial pressure can change things. When the multimillion pound Gurdwaras become financially bankrupt then they will have to accommodate other members of the community or close down altogether.

Personally I would be happy to participate in Satsangat even in a tin shed as long as everybody was made to feel welcome and comfortable with respect.

We have bettered ourselves financially but distanced ourselves from the sidhants of Gursikhi , alas.

[UKLondonSikh]

Khalsa Ji

The fundamental fact remains that as long as people have financial power then different groups will build their separate Gurdwaras.

>>I think all sections of Sikhs of the community in the West are reasonably set financially ... what we'd have to ensure in united Gurdwaray ... is that no section of the community gets to dominate the finances

I remember as a kid attending the one and only Gurdwara in our town where people from all backgrounds attended. It was a lovely cosy atmosphere , very family like. There were the Punjab migrants who were farmers , shoe makers , carpenters , merchanta etc.. But all attended and participated in the one Gurdwara Sahib.

>> That's what Sikhi is about (but the next generation certainly need to be generic Sikhs + the matrimonial generation need to choose their own partners as Sikhi guides us)

As time went by the Sikh community started becoming affluent and as such the farmers started throwing their weight around with the shoe makers and carpenters.

>>I agree with you and that makes me sad ... maybe those types ought to throw parties in honour of their brethren from Pakistan and Delhi who did what they did in 47+84. Those fools don't even realise Sajjan Kumar is a famous Jatt leader and that the main beneficiaries of Pakistan were Muslim Jatts that vastly increased their wealth by killing Sikhs from all backgrounds

These folk put up with the situation upto a certain point but eventually they parted company and built their own Gurdwaras.

>>I agree + only respect from the heart will join back our broken jigsaw

It's a shame because we have a multi million pound Gurdwara but no cosy family atmosphere anymore. The multimillion pound Gurdwara ia already experiencing financial problems whereas the other Gurdwaras are very successful. I feel that only financial pressure can change things. When the multimillion pound Gurdwaras become financially bankrupt then they will have to accommodate other members of the community or close down altogether.

>>No point us having fancy sites of worships like other faiths, just 1 simple Gurdwara or none ... and any Gurdwara that restricts membership on the basis of one's parents ... isn't much of a Gurdwara ... that's beadbi of Guru Granth Sahib Ji in of itself

Personally I would be happy to participate in Satsangat even in a tin shed as long as everybody was made to feel welcome and

comfortable with respect.

>>I couldn't have said it better myself Paji ... that is what the youth need to get across to the dinosaurs (a Giani I respect once said that the Guru's if they were here today would have melted the gold off Harmandir Sahib (that Ranjit Singh put on there after successive desecrations by Mughals to be fair to him) and used those funds for assisting the downtrodden in society because that is what Sikhi is about. We don't need no fancy stuff like the Muslims + Christians. Shame that we seem to be copying them.

We have bettered ourselves financially but distanced ourselves from the sidhants of Gursikhi , alas.

[Guest RavindaSingh]

This has been in my mind for ages this would be an amazing idea for all sikhs to get closer together within the community instead of being divided by well you know what....

[singher23]

As my dad likes to say, every Sikh is a general, no one is a soldier. That is the root of ALL these problems

[10th regiment]

this is the way forward and in one/two generation(s) this will happen. once the oldies who steeped in caste and ego die off, the youth will realise. already through inter caste (but within sikhi) marriages, the youth are realising this bahman thought is killing us

[chatanga]

in future sangat levels will fall, and so many gurdwaras may merge for financial reasons, just as financial reasons made them grow apart, it willl bring them back together

[Sherdil]

As my dad likes to say, every Sikh is a general, no one is a soldier. That is the root of ALL these problems

Yes. That sums us up beautifully. :biggrin2: