ON October 10, as the Delhi Police closed in on demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner and an end to the revision of electoral rolls, some 250 protesters, according to gurdwara representatives, took shelter in Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. The management, which had offered them langar and a place to rest, later voiced concern for the sanctity of the shrine. When the police posted outside asked that the protesters not be allowed to stay, a bitter controversy followed. Behind it lies a question as old as religion itself: what does a house of worship owe those who seek its protection, and where must political activity stop? A gurdwara may justly insist that its premises remain a place of worship.