TURLOCK, California, USA—According to a recently issued statement by the Turlock Gurdwara’s Punjabi school, its’ attendance has been cut to less than half after the violent clash took place between the two rival management committees. Of the 120 enrolled students, a little over 50 are attending the school on regular basis now.
The Turlock Punjabi School is a key stakeholder in this dispute. For this reason, the school’s feasibility, operation, volunteer teachers, and over 120 students and their families are implicated in the results of the clash that took place a few weeks ago.
Since 2001, Turlock Punjabi School’s mission has been to prepare the Sikh youth with the tools and skills needed to remain connected to their Sikh identity. This includes teaching the Punjabi language; teaching the Gurmukhi script to enable reading and understanding of Sikh scriptures; teaching Sikh beliefs, values, history, prayer, and devotional music. However, since its inception, there has been considerable resistance and absence of financial and moral support from the old committee for the school. In contrast, since having taken office, the new committee has extended widespread support to the Turlock Punjabi School. This has been demonstrated in terms of general encouragement, funding, and inclusion of students in the Gurdwara’s religious services.
The violent events provoked by the old committee are jeopardizing the existence, stability and progress made by the Turlock Punjabi School. Witnessing the disruptions caused by the old committee – which have now escalated to violence, students are experiencing a disturbance in their learning environment causing emotional and mental distress.
These children are at a critical point in their development, so witnessing such violence can result in trauma. Registering this danger and lack of safety is pushing them away from attending the school and the Gurdwara, because the sacred and communal environment there has been compromised.
If the children can no longer see the Gurdwara as a safe space – where their growth and cultural development can occur free of violence, they will eventually become detached from the Gurdwara and the Sikh community. Hence, this will cause them to lose access to a resource that could potentially sustain their positive growth in the future. A community must preserve the safety and communal nature of its institutions if its’ future generations are to thrive. Thankfully, the new committee has consistently demonstrated commitment to this mission.
