twinkle ji
One of the curious things about the story is the very thing that you have pointed out -- the article speaks as if a divorce is being granted in a gurdwara. That of course could not be the case.
In many countries, including India and the US, a divorce is executed in a court of law. (I am not clear on what happens in countries governed under Islamic law.) And why is a divorce granted by a court or judicial authority? Because the marriage license itself was granted as a legal decree with a marriage certificate by a court, or by a department of the judicial system. Which court depends on the particular location we are talking about.
A divorce decree is legal notice that a legally binding marriage contract has been nullified.
So now I come to what is perplexing about the story. What is really happening is that the divorce, or intent to divorce more like it, is being solemnized in a gurdwara. Much like a marriage in solemnized in a church, temple, synagogue, gurdwara, after a marriage license was granted.
Now I cannot figure out what is going on in the minds of people who are solemnizing divorces. But then I have never been a "with it" kind of person. And the article seems to imply that this is going to be a trend.
But here is the big rift, the cleavage in the surface of the earth, the large fissure left by some kind of cultural earthquake. The father-in-law, who is a granthi, is making it "official" by honoring the daughter-in-law-soon-to-be-divorced a siropa (this is reported in the original article at Sikhnet). Wow! a siropa used to be given to honor a person. He is honoring her for divorcing his son, and there is even mention of some land that she/her family owns, that the father-in-law would like to acquire.
Sounds like she needs to pay alimony to her father-in-law -- or some kind of pay-off. Not sure.
"A young 24 year old Sikh girl, Simarjit Kaur, of Todarwaal village in district Kapurthala was bestowed a siropa by her father-in-law in the historical Gurdwara Hatt Sahib ( where Guru Nanak Dev ji had worked in modikhana and weighed “ tera, tera’ ) and divorced her from her husband. ....
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-sikhi-sikhism/27170-divorce-in-presence-guru-granth-sahib.html
If this issue is not taken to it’s logical end , it will open a new way for greedy, unscrupulous in-laws to send their daughter in law back to her parent’s home by just giving her a siropa in presence of Guru Granth Sahib. As easy as ‘ talak,talak,talak’ ! In this case too the factor precipitating divorce is a piece of land that Simarjit’s father left behind and eyed by her in laws. " at
Divorce in the Presence of Guru Granth Sahib | SikhNetReference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=27170
So there is more than one level to the story. No she is not getting a divorce in the gurdwara -- something else is going on in the gurdwara. Once again, Not sure.