Armed men occupy Sikh temple in the UK

From Aditi Khanna London, Sep 11 (PTI) Armed police today surrounded aGurdwara in the West Midlands region of England after a gangof 20-30 sword-wielding men stormed the Sikh temple,apparently opposing a mixed race marriage between a Sikh anda non-Sikh couple. Specially trained officers from Warwickshire Police arenow believed to be inside Gurdwara Sahib in the town ofLeamington Spa to negotiate with the men. A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police said: "The reportwas received at 6.47 am after a group of between 20 and 30 menentered the temple. "This is currently being treated as aggravated trespassand at this time we believe that it is an escalation of anongoing local dispute. "We believe that some of the men are in possession ofbladed items and as such armed officers have been deployed tothe scene. Officers are inside the temple to negotiate apeaceful resolution. "We would like to reassure people that this is not beingtreated as a terrorist incident," he said. The spokesperson confirmed religious leaders in the templewere working with officers to negotiate a peaceful resolution. "There are police cordons in place around the temple andwe would ask that people avoid the immediate area while theincident is resolved," he said. Some reports claimed the armed gang is demonstratingagainst a mixed race marriage, although this remainsunconfirmed. Jatinder Singh Birdi, a former treasurer at the temple,said a marriage between a Sikh and non-Sikh couple was due totake place. "There have been tensions that have been going on for acouple of years with some people objecting to mixed marriagesin taking place in the Gurdwara," he told BBC. "The general consensus is people are respectful of mixedmarriages if the traditions are respected. Nothing hashappened on this level before. This is meant to be one of thehappiest moments of somebody’s life – it shows a lack ofrespect," he said. A police cordon is currently in force around the templewhile officers and religious leaders try to end the stand-off.PTI AK SUA AKJSUA