Dispute Over Sikh Temple Continues : Religion: Police-moderated talks fail to resolve battle between sect’s directors and nalleged trespassers who have so far resisted eviction. The fight appears headed back to court.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD — The case of the warring Sikhs ended in another impasse Thursday, when one faction was unable to regain control of a North Hollywood temple because Los Angeles police--after two hours of moderating heated negotiations--said they could not legally oust the alleged trespassers.
As the aroma of curry-laced sauces wafted out of the Sikh Gurdwara temple in the 7600 block of Lankershim Boulevard, about a dozen officers arrived from the North Hollywood station and assumed posts in the temple’s parking lot shortly after noon.
“You come. You eat. We are peaceful people,†the men inside the temple beckoned. But the officers stood stone-faced, with arms crossed, as their commanding officer, Capt. David R. Doan, crossed the parking lot at least a half-dozen times, trying to mediate the dispute between the two factions.
At the temple door stood five bearded men in turbans who said they were the newly elected members of the board of directors of Sikh Gurdwara of Los Angeles Inc. Leaning against a white Mercedes-Benz parked on the curb were five other men, some with beards and turbans and some without, who claimed they were the rightful corporate directors.
The dispute between the two factions has continued since the dissident group allegedly took over the temple Oct. 10 after the original directors closed the temple following a violent clash Oct. 3 between the two factions, according to a suit filed by the original directors.
Following two hours of discussions and threats from one faction to make citizens’ arrests against the other Thursday, Doan gave up and recommended that both sides return to court.
Doan said police could not arrest anyone because none of the defendants specifically named in a temporary restraining order was present. Also named in the suit is an organization called Sikh Youth of America, which includes adult men.
Sikh Youth of America also tried to take over a temple in Buena Park in early summer, Sikh sources said. The management committee there fought them off, then locked the building and hired security guards for two weeks.
However, in the increasingly complicated North Hollywood dispute, it remained unclear Thursday which of the people inside the temple are affiliated with Sikh Youth of America, if any. Nor was it clear which faction legally owns the temple property, or who has the right to order someone else arrested for trespassing.
“It’s real convoluted,†said Officer Arthur Holmes, an LAPD spokesman.
Police had agreed on Wednesday not to interrupt the occupants’ 48 hours of continuous prayers, which were to have ended at noon Thursday. However, after the negotiations broke down, the Sikhs occupying the temple began another 48 hours of prayer, vowing to keep praying, chanting and reading the Sikh holy book indefinitely.
Meanwhile, the five original temple directors retired to a nearby 7-Eleven parking lot for an impromptu news conference where they vowed to return to court soon. Also, they said, they will ask for a hearing to compel the new directors to prove their election was legal under the temple’s corporate bylaws.
The original directors had obtained the restraining order barring certain Sikhs from coming within 100 yards of the temple or otherwise harassing or assaulting the directors or other members.
Later Thursday, the original directors’ attorney, Kevin O’Connell, said a representative of his law firm plans to take 150 copies of the original lawsuit to the temple this afternoon, present them to anyone in the temple and add the names of those inside to the suit. O’Connell said he also plans to seek a second restraining order, which would give the board of directors the power to remove anyone remaining in the temple.
“The present state of it is, you have strangers who are not members saying they are there for religious services,†O’Connell said.
A Sikh source who requested anonymity said much of the dispute centers around defendant Lakhbir S. Chima of Northridge, who he said is one of the leaders of the dissident group. He also was one of the temple’s original founders and helped to buy the building in 1989, the source said. Chima was defeated in his bid to be elected to the temple’s executive committee. The board then refused to return money Chima had loaned the temple, the source said.
Further allegations about a night of violence that may have triggered the lawsuit emerged Thursday in court documents related to a suit filed by the original board against the Sikhs now occupying the temple. The violence began just as religious services ended there on Oct. 3, according to the records.
Bakhshish S. Bhalrhu, a temple board member, alleges in court papers that he arrived at the temple just moments before defendant Sukcharan Chima shouted: “What are you waiting for? Get them.†Members of Sikh Youth of America then attacked three temple members with wooden sticks, the lawsuit alleges, and another dissident grabbed a steel sword hanging on a temple wall and swung it in a threatening manner.
The current temple occupants maintain that the allegations are untrue and that they were the ones attacked and were merely defending themselves.
People were hit with tire irons and someone sprayed tear gas. As he ran choking into the parking lot, Bhalrhu was hit on the head with a steel rod, causing him to pass out, the lawsuit says. When he regained consciousness, Bhalrhu alleged that two of the defendants continued to strike his head and shoulders.
A temple security guard tried to stopped the beating, but not before Bhalrhu heard defendant Jhalman Singh shout “finish him,†as his assailants continued the beating, according to the lawsuit. Bhalrhu received 21 stitches to his forehead.
Gurbachan S. Grewal, a temple board member, said he was attacked by at least five of the defendants.
Grewal ran to the parking lot, where he heard someone shout “get him, kill him.†Grewal was able to jump into a friend’s car and escape, but received multiple cuts to his hands and bumps on his head and was treated at a Sun Valley hospital.
Other board members also were treated at hospitals that night for injuries including a punctured ear and a fractured skull, neck and hand, the suit says.
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