Moving forward Sikh leadership board pledges end to fighting

By Robert Nozar
Bedford Sun Banner Staff Writer

Jan. 25, 2007

BEDFORD — All has been quiet on Tarbell Avenue for the past two months of Sundays as members of the Sikh Gurudwara have gathered to worship.

That has not always been the case during the religious gatherings. For more than two years attendees have wondered if they would be faced with fights and arguments rather than worship.

Now, though, at least one member of the new leadership board said he expects that everyone will be able to worship at the Gurudwara without fear of violence and confrontation.

"We have to accept the election and the leadership chosen by the members," Gursharan Gil said. "I can only hope that the other group sees it the same way. It seems that they are accepting the new board and that is pleasing."

Gil was one of the founders of the Gurudwara who were faced with the reality of control slipping away from them in 2004 as a larger, more conservative group became more prominent in the community.

Disagreements would sometimes escalate into physical confrontations as each side claimed the right to govern the Gurudwara.

But Judge Richard McMonagle, of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, ordered that an election run by neutral observers be held and in December, a new leadership board was put in place.