By Asia Samachar | India |
A number of Indian media went into overdrive reporting on an incident where a lady was allegedly denied entry into the Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, because she spotted an Indian flag on her face.
And some of the media went to town dissecting word-for-word what was uttered by a ground staff at the gurdwara in Amritsar, Punjab, a popular tourist sight. The CNN-News18, for example, ran a 17-minute programme on the incident.
Now, more information is coming out on what actually transpired.
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The video of the woman being rejected from entering a Gurdwara for wearing face-paint of India’s flag has been found to be a Hindu nationalist stunt to stir up more anti-Sikh hatred in India. Subsequent videos show the woman was rejected for carrying tobacco and inappropriate attire, according to a statement released by the British-based Sikh Press Association.
In a statement today, Sikh PA suggested that the original video of the incident went viral after being pushed by Hindu nationalists as an alleged example of Sikh anti-India sentiment.
It added: “Displaying any flag except the Sikh Nishan Sahib in a Gurdwara is considered disrespectful. However, new video footage clearly shows the woman, who was accompanied by men who filmed the incident and acted aggressively throughout, did not have India’s tiranga painted on her face when she was first rejected from entering. Tobacco and all intoxicants are completely banned from being brought into Gurdwaras. Like most places of worship, Gurdwaras also enforce appropriate modest attire rules for all attendees. The woman was wearing a knee-length dress, considered inappropriate wear in a Gurdwara, just as it would be if a man was wearing shorts of the same length.
“The woman’s carrying of tobacco has prompted concern of a possible beadbi (sacrilege) attack on Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Sikh scriptural Guru. Throwing tobacco at Guru Granth Sahib Ji would likely prompt a severe reaction from any Sikh. Previous incidents of beadbi attacks on Guru Granth Sahib Ji have led to individuals caught claiming they have been paid by Hindu nationalist networks to cause disruption and provoke violence in Sikh spaces, to further demonise the community.”
But the damage may have already been done as the video has already gone viral.
This is how the incident was reported by the Tribune News Service yesterday (April 17):
“A controversy erupted when a woman claimed that she was allegedly denied entry to the Golden Temple because she was sporting a temporary tattoo of Tricolour on her face, a general practice by visitors who get it done while going to watch ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony at Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post every evening.
“SGPC has submitted an apology if any of its employees misbehaved with any visitor, yet the Sikh body has strongly condemned the narrative being created against the Sikhs on social media about the viral conversation between the female devotee and the sewadar (SGPC employee) deputed at the shrine.
“Clarifying the instance, Sarbjeet Singh, sewadar at the parikrama (circumambulation), claimed that he had intercepted the female devotee only as she was inappropriately dressed. He said that he had apprised her about the ‘Gurmaryada’ (code of conduct) of the place which has to be followed by every visitor, but “my advice was misinterpreted and presented in a wrong way on the social media”.
“The issue gained momentum when a 40-second video clip went viral on social media captioned as ‘Khalistanis taking over Golden Temple!’”
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