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Orlando's Money Back Offer It used to be a sleepy little town twenty some years ago when a handful of Sikhs first settled there. And like other fledgling Sikh communities popping up in the United States back then, they would take turns holding divaans in their houses. In a few years they were able to buy a small church at the end of a gravel road, put up a Nishaan Sahib and make it into a Gurdwara. As time went by, the sleepy little town grew into a dynamic suburb of a bustling city. The sangat grew and made improvements to the Gurdwara. Then, a few years ago, the sangat bought a large piece of land and decided to raise money to build a new Gurdwara. The sevadaars traveled across the United States and Canada to appeal to Sikh sangats everywhere to donate money for the new Gurdwara. And the Sikh sangats were generous. Eventually, a beautiful new Gurdwara was built on the new land with the financial help of Sikhs everywhere and the hard work of the local sangat. All was going well until recently when some of the sangat received an irate letter from a young Amritdhari Sikh from New Jersey. His concern: The Sikh Society of Central Florida intends on changing their constitution so that the President of the Gurdwara is not required to have kesh. He states in his letter that a Gurdwara official has said that he believes in the first nine Gurus, not the tenth; and that kesh is only a "fashion statement." Among other shocking statements, Gurdwara officials justify their position by saying that the majority of Sikhs in Florida do not keep their hair and that it is just a matter of time before the rest cut their hair. They also do not expect the future generations to keep kesh. The kesh issue in Orlando is becoming epidemic as more and more youths are shaving off. The sangat has created an environment where the children are not shown to love their identity. And now the Gurdwara is headed in a direction in which the sevadaars will not look like Sikhs. After exchanging several phone calls with the Gurdwara officials, the Sikh man from New Jersey was told to "take your money back and mind your own business." Does this money back offer apply to every Sikh across the US and Canada who donated money to SSCF in the belief that the Gurdwara would be run following the principles of Sikhi? The Sikh from New Jersey was so disturbed that he traveled to Orlando to confront the sangat. When he arrived at the Gurdwara, he was taken aside by the management and convinced that the kesh requirement will not be removed from the constitution. He was never given a chance to talk to the sangat before he went back. As it turns out, a Rules Committee was set up to invite opinions and suggestions from members and non-members to improve the Constitution and make it more "conflict free and meet the needs of the current situation." Specifics were not given as to what is the conflict or the current situation. Only one of the six persons on the Rules Committee is Keshdhari and two are non-Sikh. A significant portion of the membership is also either not Keshdhari or non-Sikh. Does a Catholic have a say in how a Synagogue is run? In the last letter from the Rules Committee it states that they all "agree that the President shall be a turbaned Gursikh." However, any changes to the Constitution shall be amended by a two-thirds majority at the General Body meeting in April 2003. It appears that the management has changed their minds about the kesh issue, but they have left the back door wide open to change the kesh requirement. Every Gurdwara belongs to every Sikh. And anything that happens at a Gurdwara is our business. So here is a written input from a non-member on the Constitution. The Sikh Society of Central Florida is blurring the line between Sangat and Pangat. Gurdwaras are open to all people regardless of belief - that group is called the Sangat. The operations of the Gurdwara, being a Sikh institution, should be run by Sikhs - the Pangat. The phrase mona-Sikh is an oxymoron. A person who cuts his or her hair is directly disregarding the Guru's hukam and should reconcile before trying to run a Sikh religious institution. So yes, the Constitution should be changed. All governing members of the Sikh Society of Central Florida should be Keshdhari, not just the President - trustees, management, and members. Amritdhari is even better. All official titles should be changed to "sevadaar" because fancy titles cause ego problems. And finally, those Keshdhari Sikhs in Orlando, I know there are many left, need to find their backbones and stand up to this injustice. Don't let them do this. The Sikh Society
of Central Florida is inviting input from members and non-members. |