No permission given to Army for gun deployment at Golden Temple, Sikh clergy and SGPC clarify
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami also denied coordinating with the Army regarding gun deployment at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
3 min read
The Golden Temple in Amritsar. (File)A day after Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha, Director General of Army Air Defence, hinted that air defence guns were deployed at the Golden Temple in Amritsar to neutralise aerial threats from Pakistan earlier this month, Sikh religious authorities and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) clarified on Tuesday that “no such permission was granted”.
“It is incorrect to say that the Army was given permission to deploy air defence guns at Sri Harmandir Sahib. No such permission was granted, and no such deployment occurred,” Giani Amarjeet Singh, the additional head granthi of Sri Harmandir Sahib, said in a statement released by the SGPC.
“During the blackout issued by the Amritsar district administration, the management cooperated by switching off exterior and upper lights. However, at places where the religious code of conduct is followed, the lights remained on,” Giani Amarjeet Singh said.
In an interview with news agency ANI, which was released on Monday, Lieutenant General D’Cunha had said, “The Golden Temple hierarchy realised there was possibly a threat when it was explained to them. They allowed us to deploy guns, to protect… the Golden Temple’s lights were switched off so that we could clearly visualise the drones as they were coming in…”.
On Tuesday, Giani Amarjeet Singh said that religious practices continued without interruption. “The daily services at Sri Darbar Sahib, Langar Sri Guru Ram Das Ji, Akhand Path Sahib, and related shrines were carried out as usual. There was no disruption, and no one has the right to interfere,” he further said.
Giani Amarjeet Singh also questioned the basis of the Army official’s statement. “Why the officer made this claim, only he can explain. But I can say with certainty that no permission was given for such deployment,” he added.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami also denied any coordination with the Army regarding gun deployment. “The administration contacted us only to request cooperation with blackout protocols. We switched off the external lights after consulting with the additional head granthi. No Army official contacted us about any other matter,” Dhami said.
“If such a deployment had happened, devotees present at the shrine would have seen and noted it….The Indian government should clarify why such statements are being made by Army officials,” he added. “
Head Granthi Giani Raghbir Singh, who was abroad at the time, said, “No one from the Army contacted me about deployment of any guns, and no such event took place at Sri Darbar Sahib. The Army officer’s statement is surprising.”
The Indian Army had said on Monday that it had “mobilised additional modern air defence assets” to neutralise Pakistan’s aerial threats aimed at critical sites, including the Golden Temple and cities across Punjab.
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