Sikh gang halts hotel wedding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: Timesonline
June 27, 2005 Author: Stefanie Marsh

A SIKH couple had to abandon their wedding after 40 religious objectors stormed the hotel in which it was due to be held.
The couple — who do not want to be named — watched helplessly as their priest fell to the ground in a tussle and the prayer book due to be used in the service was taken away.

Guests invited to the wedding at the Baylis House hotel in Slough, Berkshire, on Saturday had already gathered when proceedings were violently interrupted by a group of men claiming that the Sikh book of scriptures should not have been in a place where alcohol, meat and cigarettes were available.

This is the second time that members of the Respect to Guru Granth Sahib Ji Campaign have recently disrupted a wedding for religious reasons. Two weeks ago the group staged a “confiscation raid” during a wedding in Ilford, East London.

The men, who scour the internet for tip-offs about what they consider to be irreligious Sikh weddings across the country, arrived in a hired coach from the Midlands and caused so much disruption that the ceremony was called off and police called.

When officers arrived at the 300-year-old hotel they found the priest lying in the car park and the prayer book gone.

The gang had fled to take the book to a Sikh temple in Slough where they handed it to religious leaders for safekeeping.

Last night the leader of Respect for Guru Granth Sahib Ji Campaign said he and almost 40 youths travelled from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, to prevent the wedding happening.

“We saw on the internet that a wedding was due to take place at Baylis House, which has a marriage licence,” he said. “This would have violated our holy book, because our religion forbids the book being anywhere near alcohol or cigarettes.

“We went down to Slough in a bus in the early hours of Saturday. When we got there the families were all in the car park. We saw the priest carrying the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, on his head, which is traditional. We tried to get hold of it but he would not let it go. So two of our lads went either side of him and grabbed the book off his head.

“All we had to do was make sure we got the holy book and got the hell out of there to the nearest temple and restored the book to its rightful place.

“We will not tolerate the use of the holy book in social venues. We will use any means whatsoever to stop this happening. Baylis House should know this is against Sikh laws but the biggest culprits are the Sikh communities themselves. They should know better. When we have multi-million pound temples which can accommodate up to 1,000 people, why do they need to go out and get married in hotels and the like?”

After police restored calm, they stood guard at the hotel overnight as managers met to discuss another wedding planned for yesterday. A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: “Apparently a compromise has been reached by both sides over the holy book used for the service and a ‘semi-holy book’ is to be used instead. No one was injured in the incident on Saturday and there have been no arrests.”

The spokesman added: “As a result of what happened there is a lot of work for the police with the Sikh community. Our community and race relations officers will be working hard in Slough in the next week or so.”