ABSTRACT
Sikhs in Britain number somewhere in the region of 300,000-500,000 (Singh and Tatla 2006: 57). To nurture this congregation are some 250 temples or gurdwaras, making for a remarkable ratio of one gurdwara to every 1,664 Sikhs (ibid. 76). Sikh organisations in Britain are clearly flourishing. They are also developing new heights of complexity. An increasingly diverse set of religious, sectarian and caste affiliations has been given institutional base through religious organisations (Nesbitt 2011). These organisations have often been beset by factional politics relating to personal rivalries, sectarian and caste affiliations and political differences, exacerbated by Punjab homeland politics and by the fact that many temples and gurdwaras have vast financial assets (Singh and Tatla 2006: 86). Dominated by pioneer male migrant elders – businessmen or retired working class ‘old-timers’ – gurdwara committees are often criticised as the mouthpieces of selfappointed politickers. The comments of Balbir, a 49-year-old mother of two, were typical of the criticisms I heard about gurdwara committees:
I try to keep myself above politics in the gurdwara. They really fight over the seats in the gurdwara, the men. The ladies may have one seat on the kitchen side or the education side, but apart from that the men hog the seats for years and years. It’s like they’re glued to the seats and it’s the same old men who’ve been there since the 70s. They don’t give an opportunity to the young people or the women. (Balbir, 49, British born and raised)
