By LAUREL V WILLIAMS Tuesday, November 10 2009

Following a brawl at a Hindu temple in Couva over the weekend, Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) Satnarayan Maharaj has signalled his intention to take legal action.

Maharaj, in a press statement yesterday, stated the management committee of the Dow Village Mandir had failed in reporting to SDMS on their activities including financial reports.

The release added the SDMS received many complaints from the residents of Dow Village that there had been no annual elections for several years. As a result, “villagers have been essentially driven out of the mandir” by persons who “have hijacked the management committee”.

The release said in April the SDMS instructed the management committee to hold elections. On Saturday, tempers flared at the mandir on Temple Street, Dow Village for several hours as devotees blocked each other from entering the mandir for the election.

A villager said Maharaj and his associates should not be spared from the shameful situation. The villager said members of the management committee jumped on several murtis in an attempt to switch off the electricity. “Since the SDMS officials were prevented from hosting the scheduled elections an interim management committee was appointed with immediate effect to involve the residents of Dow Village. Concurrently the SDMS will be reverting to our attorneys so that the appropriate legal action may be taken, ” Maharaj said.

When a Newsday team visited the mandir yesterday the gates were locked. No member of the management committee was present.