Amidst concerns of another Easter wilding in Times Square, violence ended up breaking out this Easter in an unlikely place: Inside the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in Queens. Seven men were arrested there yesterday after a dispute in the center's leadership led a man to be slashed in the face with a 40" sword, while others were attacked with cricket bats and balls.
The Post reports the dispute hinges around "the old guard that had been recently voted out of power but refused to accept the decision, even going to court to challenge the election." According to the new temple President Gurmej Singh the fight is, at its core, about financial mismanagement from the previous regime.
Though police were outside the temple in an effort to prevent the violence, the attackers managed to get their hammers, cricket bats and balls and either one or two swords past them and waited to let loose until they were inside. "We just went to pray," M.K. Singh, who received stitches and staples to close a head wound said. "We walked inside, and they started attacking. They cut me. They tried to cut my arm off, but the sword got caught on [something]. I'm very lucky." Eventually three people were reported injured, including a cop.
In the end, seven people were arrested and now face charges ranging from assault to unlawful assembly, resisting arrest, rioting, and disrupting a religious service. But this may not be the end of it. According to Singh, the disgruntled deposed are already planning to disrupt services again next week.
