New era for Sikh temple

It's the end of an era today at the Sikh temple on Tierra Buena Road in Yuba City, say directors taking office after an election whose outcome was upheld by the Sutter County Superior Court.

"This is a historic day for the Yuba-Sutter community," said Parminder S. Grewal, 49, one of 73 directors elected in September for the temple and who'll take office today.

The decades-long reign of Didar Bains will end, said Tejinder Dosanjh, 54.

"There's a new generation taking over," Dosanjh said Friday at the temple.

Bains had been unchallenged for many years and he and his family dominated the temple's governing body, Dosanjh said.

Dosanjh has called the election for directors the first democratic voting since the temple's founding in 1969.

"It took us a long time to educate people," he said of why the change took place in 2008 when thousands stood in intense valley heat to vote for directors.

Bains could not be reached Friday or Saturday for comment about the change at the temple.

Singh Dhillon Balraj will serve as the new temple president.

Dosanjh said planned changes include a Punjabi school, sports programs in soccer and basketball and religious camps.

"We'd like to keep the main power with the congregation," Dosanjh said of the 4,300 members of the temple. "That has never happened in the past."

He said he expects the keys to the temple to be turned over this week.

A Sutter County Superior Court judge in October upheld the Sept. 6-7 election that brought in the new directors.

Bains alleged problems that included two people in a voting booth at the same time and challenged the outcome.

But Judge Perry Parker said it was possible people who did not understand English were assisted for others and such assistance led to more than one person in a voting booth.

More than 3,000 people voted in the temple election that Dosanjh said cost the temple about $125,000. Expenses included security, an accounting firm and the work of TrueBallot of Merced.

Dosanjh said he hopes the legal issues surrounding the Sikh temple are over.

"We'll try not to go into court in the future," he said.

Contact Appeal reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appeal-democrat.com.