ROBERT MATAS--Globe & Mail

After a contentious and bitter election in November, the youth slate's Amardeep Singh Deol emerged as the leader of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara temple, where he stands in the forefront of a new generation that could shift how Canada's Punjabi community is viewed

SURREY -- When Amardeep Singh Deol arrives at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey for an interview, he appears uncertain about where to sit. About two dozen people are in the temple's dining hall and community kitchen. Mr. Deol wanders over to a back corner of the room. But he will not sit at one of the vacant tables.

Sitting at a table could be a provocative act in a Sikh temple. Conflict over tables and chairs led to violent confrontations at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in the 1990s. Traditional Sikhs insist on sitting on the floor as a sign of humility, following the path set by rulers of an earlier era who sat with beggars on the ground for their meals. For the past decade, Surrey's temple has elected an executive of moderates who kept table and chairs in the dining hall. But temple elections in November reopened old wounds. In an upset victory, an 18-member youth slate headed by Mr. Deol, 27, won the election.