Sikhs Want Guru’s Portraits Removed from Hollywood Bar
By Sunita Sohrabji
http://www.indiawest.com/news/13770-sikhs-want-guru-s-portraits-removed-from-hollywood-bar.html
The Maharaja Room at Pikey Café in Hollywood, Calif., currently has several portraits of Guru Gobind Singh on its walls. Concerned community members have asked the restaurant to take the portraits down. (Pikey Café photo)
United Sikhs has initiated a petition drive and plans to initiate a boycott with the aim of getting the owners of a Hollywood, Calif., restaurant – Pikey Café and Bar – to remove portraits of Sikh Guru Gobind Singh from the establishment’s walls.
“Our religion is very against drinking. Hanging pictures of our guru where people are drinking is very disrespectful,” Karam Grewal, who alerted this publication to the issue, told India-West. “Images of Guru Gobind Singh are only found in gurdwaras or in private homes,” the Indian American said, adding that Pikey has tried to create an Indo-British feel to its Maharaja room, where portraits of maharajahs hang alongside pictures of Sikh saints.
Grewal said that in the past week, she has contacted the bar multiple times. On the first occasion, she spoke to Noam – he only gave Grewal his first name – who said the portraits would be taken down. On subsequent occasions, Grewal was told to contact the Pikey parent company, Committed, Inc., founded by New York hotelier Sean MacPherson.
“They’re being passive aggressive. They have said they will take them down, but have not told us when. They realize that they have hurt a lot of people, but they’re not doing anything about it,” she said, adding that Pikey’s managers should close that part of the restaurant or at least cover the portraits until the matter is settled.
Committed, Inc. owns eight restaurants in Southern California, including two branches of the Swingers’ Diner, Bar Lubitsch, Jones Hollywood, El Carmen, and the Roger Room. MacPherson is also owner of the Bowery Hotel and the Jane Hotel, and recently opened the Marlton, all in New York. His estimated net worth is $800 million.
MacPherson was unreachable for comment at the Committed, Inc.’s West Hollywood headquarters. Abraham Beltran, controller at Committed, Inc., had not returned several calls or an e-mail for comment by press time.
Manmeet Singh, legal director for United Sikhs, told India-West that his organization would initiate a boycott of MacPherson’s vast empire if the portraits are not removed within the week.
“In the teachings of Sikh religion, all intoxicants are banned,” he said. “To put up pictures of Guru Gobind Singh, and other Sikh gurus, in an environment that promotes alcohol is utterly disrespectful,” Singh stated.
United Sikhs sent a letter to Committed, Inc., but Singh said he did not receive much response. However, photos of Guru Gobind Singh’s portraits were removed from the Pikey L.A. Web site. Singh did speak to Pikey assistant manager Hallelujah Walcott, who told him that the portraits would be removed “very soon.” However, no definite timeline was established.
“This is something they cannot hide away,” stated Singh, adding that local Sikhs will go to Pikey each day to see if the portraits have been taken down.
The petition can be viewed on the United Sikhs Web site. Singh said he has asked the restaurant’s proprietors to donate the portraits to a local gurdwara, where they belong, he said.
By Sunita Sohrabji
http://www.indiawest.com/news/13770-sikhs-want-guru-s-portraits-removed-from-hollywood-bar.html
The Maharaja Room at Pikey Café in Hollywood, Calif., currently has several portraits of Guru Gobind Singh on its walls. Concerned community members have asked the restaurant to take the portraits down. (Pikey Café photo)
United Sikhs has initiated a petition drive and plans to initiate a boycott with the aim of getting the owners of a Hollywood, Calif., restaurant – Pikey Café and Bar – to remove portraits of Sikh Guru Gobind Singh from the establishment’s walls.
“Our religion is very against drinking. Hanging pictures of our guru where people are drinking is very disrespectful,” Karam Grewal, who alerted this publication to the issue, told India-West. “Images of Guru Gobind Singh are only found in gurdwaras or in private homes,” the Indian American said, adding that Pikey has tried to create an Indo-British feel to its Maharaja room, where portraits of maharajahs hang alongside pictures of Sikh saints.
Grewal said that in the past week, she has contacted the bar multiple times. On the first occasion, she spoke to Noam – he only gave Grewal his first name – who said the portraits would be taken down. On subsequent occasions, Grewal was told to contact the Pikey parent company, Committed, Inc., founded by New York hotelier Sean MacPherson.
“They’re being passive aggressive. They have said they will take them down, but have not told us when. They realize that they have hurt a lot of people, but they’re not doing anything about it,” she said, adding that Pikey’s managers should close that part of the restaurant or at least cover the portraits until the matter is settled.
Committed, Inc. owns eight restaurants in Southern California, including two branches of the Swingers’ Diner, Bar Lubitsch, Jones Hollywood, El Carmen, and the Roger Room. MacPherson is also owner of the Bowery Hotel and the Jane Hotel, and recently opened the Marlton, all in New York. His estimated net worth is $800 million.
MacPherson was unreachable for comment at the Committed, Inc.’s West Hollywood headquarters. Abraham Beltran, controller at Committed, Inc., had not returned several calls or an e-mail for comment by press time.
Manmeet Singh, legal director for United Sikhs, told India-West that his organization would initiate a boycott of MacPherson’s vast empire if the portraits are not removed within the week.
“In the teachings of Sikh religion, all intoxicants are banned,” he said. “To put up pictures of Guru Gobind Singh, and other Sikh gurus, in an environment that promotes alcohol is utterly disrespectful,” Singh stated.
United Sikhs sent a letter to Committed, Inc., but Singh said he did not receive much response. However, photos of Guru Gobind Singh’s portraits were removed from the Pikey L.A. Web site. Singh did speak to Pikey assistant manager Hallelujah Walcott, who told him that the portraits would be removed “very soon.” However, no definite timeline was established.
“This is something they cannot hide away,” stated Singh, adding that local Sikhs will go to Pikey each day to see if the portraits have been taken down.
The petition can be viewed on the United Sikhs Web site. Singh said he has asked the restaurant’s proprietors to donate the portraits to a local gurdwara, where they belong, he said.
