Wedding Between Sikh Bride And Non-Sikh Groom Stopped By 'Thugs' At London Gurudwara

A group of nearly 20 locals stormed a gurdwara in Southall and forcibly stopped an ongoing inter-faith wedding of a Sikh bride with a non-Sikh groom last weekend, a media report said.

 

The members of Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara said a group of men opposed the "inter-faith marriage" and forced the couple to cancel the wedding.

 

"A group of 22 people arrived shortly after 8 am. They were all thugs. None of them were recognised by any of the Sikh groups here," The Independent.com quoted Sohan Singh Sumra, vice-president of the gurdwara, as saying on Wednesday.

 

Sumra said they got a call to stop the inter-faith wedding. However, bride's family gave a go ahead when they were contacted by the gurdwara.

 

"We had a meeting with local temples because we do not want anything like that happening to any other couples," he was quoted as saying.

 

 

“I've been in this temple since 1994 and I've never seen this sort of thing,” Mr Sumra said. “We will always listen to people’s suggestions but there was no reasoning with them. It was a sad day.”

 

Mr Sumra said he had attended many marriages between couples of different religions and races, and that the vast majority of the Sikh community had no issue with it.

 

“We are living in this country and we work with couples – if they are happy we’re fine with it - Sikhism is a liberal religion,” he added, despite acknowledging the existence of “splinter groups”.

 

 

Sunny Hundal, a freelance journalist and author, originally reported on the incident on Friday and posted videos on Facebook appearing to show the “hypocritical and fanatical thugs” arguing with fellow Sikhs inside the gurdwara.

 

“I'm raising (this issue) because I want people to realise what is happening under our noses before it gets too late,” he wrote, saying wedding “disruptions”, were becoming increasingly common.

 

“This gang-mentality puritanism will end up with the Sikh version of the Taliban and destroy the community. Don't tolerate it.”