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Locals object to Washington gurdwara

Vinay Kumar

Construction of the first ever gurdwara in Washington, DC, began despite protests by a neighborhood association, India-West has reported.

The neighbours, one of who described the gurdwara at 3801 Massachusetts Ave, NW as a "monstrosity", are upset that the Sikh Cultural Society of Washington never tried to contact them.

But the society has broken no laws, says Dr Shamsher Singh Babra, the group's spokesman and a retired economist with the World Bank, who points out that there are 10 churches on the same avenue.

According to him, the locals have kept changing their complaints, giving the impression that they are actually objecting to the temple. But when asked a pointed question if he was hinting at racism, Babra declined to respond.

One neighbour, Beth Schneiderman, an English professor, hugged one tree, her son Daniel another oak, and a neighbor a third to stop them being cut down, the Washington Post had reported. Schneiderman called the department of public works and had the workers stopped but they were to fall a few days later.

Babra told India-West that the society didn't want to cut the trees but had been told to do so by the authorities to because the building work could weaken the trees.

While neighbors claimed they hadn't been told of the building plans, Armando Laurenco, the city's administrator for building and land regulation, told the Washington Post that no notification was required and that he had to follow the law.

The neighbours have also objected to, among other things, the building's size and the 'soup kitchen' planned. Babra asserts that all that will be served is Guru ka Langar.

Amidst a chorus of complaints the project was halted pending an official review. But it was finally given the go-ahead again.

The neigbours particularly object to the size of the gurdwara, which is to be about 50 feet tall and will have a main dome 85 feet tall. The structure, designed by Sant Baba Nahar Singh, a known builder of gurudwaras, will dwarf everything in the neighborhood.

The Board of Zoning Adjustment could still revoke the building permit if it feels the gurdwara violates building norms. Either way, the ground has been laid for a long and bitter quarrel unless one or both aggrieved parties give way.

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