Gurdwara Sahib of Fremont

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The Gurdwara Sahib of Fremont is a center of Sikh worship. Although it is located in Fremont, a city in southern Alameda County, it serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area consisting of the counties of Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Santa Rosa and Solano. Officially, the Gurdwara's Supreme Council also extends its official membership to all those who lie in the Bay Area, as well as locations in the Central Valley such as San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. The Gurdwara is also one of the most influential in the entire world, garnering an income of over a million dollars every single year. The power that the Gurdwara holds has to led to several controversies and disagreement among the congregation.

[edit] Controversy

In the mid-1990s five Sikh men belonging to the congregation sued the five member Supreme Council of the Gurdwara in an attempt to unseat the men from their seats of power, and re-elect a new Council. The plaintiffs alleged that the Supreme Council had been voted in unfairly and did not deserve their seats, in addition, the term of the seats of the Supreme Council should have passed already, and a new Council should be elected. The Supreme Council, in a court battle that lasted for several years, held up in their argument that the seats of the Supreme Council, as tradition would uphold, are held under life terms. The Judge, Hon. Julia Spain, of the Alameda County Superior Court favored with the plaintiffs and ordered that an election be held after membership of the congregation can be validated, and additional elections would be held every year from that point, unless the newly elected Supreme Council, along with a vote by the Congregation would decide otherwise. After the Gurdwara meticuously gathered a list of the members of the congregation, an election was finally held after the sitting Supreme Council ran out of appeals. The election resulted in the complete overthrow of the Council. The battles that consumed the community through this long and arduous battle with very mixed though. There were several riots during the process of finally reaching a conclusion in the controversy that plagued the Gurdwara for several year. A shooting in the gurdwara on day during Sunday services prompted news coverage of this heated battle, as well as resulting in the appearance of riot police at the all elections since that point.