On January 10th, a fight erupted inside the Turlock Sikh Temple.  According to news stations and eyewitnesses about 100 people were at the fight.

Backup officers and paramedics arrived on the scene shortly after.

The alterations on resulted in six arrests. Police arrested Sandeep Singh on the 14th, with suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. This charge has been reduced to misdemeanor.

The following day, the 15th, a couple from Madera, Gurdev Singh and Balwinder Kaur Bagri, was arrested.  Singh was charged with suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and alleged elder abuse. During the fight, Singh used a musical instrument called a chimta to defend him and allegedly hit an elderly man in the process.

Kaur Bagri was arrested for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal conspiracy. Kaur Bagri was reported to have been involved in an altercation outside the temple’s eating hall with other women.

On January 21st, Manjit Kaur Johal, 47, of Hilmar and Anjit Kaur Bagri, 45, of New Delhi surrendered to police after warrants were issued for their arrests.

Both women are allegedly part of the altercation and were charged with suspicion of assault. Bagri was also charged with suspected robbery.

Police are still continuing to investigate all the evidence, which includes multiple cell phone videos and surveillance film.

This fight isn’t the first time the Turlock Sikh Temple has been caught in physical and violent altercations. In 2013, a fight had broken out over the controversy of dismissing the head priest at that time.

The temple has become divided into two factions, both which are struggling for control of the temple.

“This act itself is shameful, not just for people in Turlock but Sikhs all around the globe. Justice needs to be done without bias being taken,” remarked one Pitman High student.

A Sikh student at Pitman responded to the fight by saying, “The media has spun the use of kirpans [religious swords/daggers] and other weapons by Sikhs into acts of violence when in fact they were used as scare tactics in self-defense against attackers armed with pepper spray.” The student continued onto to say, “I can only wish that the truth will emerge and the people who attacked the peaceful congregation will be brought to justice.”

Cell phone footage continues to go viral on social media, contributing to the overwhelming negativity towards many Sikhs.

But here’s the deal:

This shameful incident does not define who Sikhs are. It reflects poorly on our community but it is not who we are. Sikhism is built on the principles of honesty, unselfishness, and faith. We believe in absolute equality.  The media has portrayed us as a violent group. However, Sikhs have a long standing history of fighting for what they believe is right. It doesn’t necessarily mean physically fighting. But here is another fact: Sikhism teaches to only fight back in self-defense, and never for one’s personal gain.

And from this incident, we hope to learn than to have this situation repeated.