A viral video from the Golden Temple sarovar sparked outrage in Punjab. The youth involved apologised as SGPC condemned the act and ordered inquiry.
A video of a young Muslim man sitting inside the holy sarovar at Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar recently went viral on social media, leading to widespread outrage. The footage showed the youth taking water from the sacred sarovar, which many people said violated the religious code of conduct of the Sikh shrine.
After the criticism, the youth issued a clarification and apology. In a video message, he said he deeply respects Sri Harmandir Sahib and had always wished to visit the holy site. He explained that he was performing wazu (Islamic ablution) and was not aware of the strict rules linked to the sarovar.
He admitted that his action was unintentional and caused due to lack of knowledge about the shrine’s religious traditions. Apologising to the Sikh community, he said he would visit the Golden Temple again to personally seek forgiveness.
What is the Controversy about?
This controversy surfaced in Punjab when a man outraged by making a reel of himself washing his face and gargling in the Guru’s Sarovar. The video of that boy has attracted SGPC’s attention for doing the act of gargling and spitting in the holiest Sarovar.
The reel which is trending shows a man sitting at the Sarovar’s edge with his legs submerged in the water. He gargles three times and finally, he spits the water back into the Sarovar once. After gargling he shows the Golden Temple by pointing fingers.
As the media reacted, Kulwant Singh Mann, the Chief Secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), condemned the act and addressed the media. Kulwant Singh Mann also mentioned that the person probably did not know about Sikh Maryada, as he seems to be from a different community in the video.
He included that the further inquiry would be conducted to find out the reason for the absence of sevadars who could have otherwise prevented the incident if it turned out to be an authentic video.
The SGPC had taken the earlier step to protect the sentiments of the religion by directing a complete ban on the making reels inside the Golden Temple premises. Sevadars are the individuals who are given the duty to make sure no objectionable recording or sharing of the matter takes place at the holy site.
