Punjab: Head granthi slams call for central security forces at Golden Temple

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

Golden Temple head granthi and former Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh on Saturday took an exception to the demand for deployment of central security forces in wake of multiple bomb threat e-mails received by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). A Punjab Police SWAT team keeps vigil at Heritage Street in Amritsar on Saturday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)
His statement came after Amritsar member of Parliament (MP) Gurjeet Singh Aujla demanded that central government and state government jointly increase security here and Amritsar be declared a 'no-war zone'. One of the threat e-mails were also copied to the Congress MP.
However, Aujla refuted media reports claiming that he had demanded 'deployment of the CISF' at Golden Temple.
Responding to a query during the interaction, Giani Raghbir Singh said the demand for central forces was wrong. 'The Congress has the history of committing excesses against Sikhs. Its government sent forces to attack Sri Darbar Sahib and Akal Takht Sahib. Following this, it massacred thousands Sikhs. It seems this was not enough for it.'
'Staff of the SGPC is efficient enough to ensure security inside Sri Darbar Sahib. Outside it, the administration should perform its duty to provide security to the devotees,' he added.
Other Sikh segments also took serious note of the demand for deployment of the central forces.
SGPC member and former general secretary Kiranjot Kaur said, 'After Operation Bluestar, Sikhs were allowed to enter the Darbar Sahib only after being thoroughly checked. Are political parties trying to create that same atmosphere again? Let the gurdwara remain a gurdwara—keep your politics out of it.'
Former SGPC member and Akal Purakh Ki Fauj chief advocate Jaswinder Singh said, 'What new conspiracy is this? With what authority can such a demand be made without consulting the SGPC? If the SGPC calls Sikhs for security of Darbar Sahib, then the entire Panth will stand here in its support, one after the other.'
Since July 14, the SGPC has received at least six e-mails threatening to blow up the Golden Temple.
The Punjab Police on Friday had detained a 24-year-old software engineer, Shubham Dubey, from Faridabad, Haryana, in connection with the e-mails.
Amritsar commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said, 'Our investigation is going on. The laptop and other devices recovered from Dubey are full of data. Retrieval of the data is taking time. Secondly, we have got another major lead from another state. Soon we will get a breakthrough in this case.'
Investigators said such threat e-mails were landing across different cities in the country, threatening to target worship places, educational institutes, court complexes, etc.
Source of threat e-mails traced: CM
Chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, while in Barnala on Saturday, said the source of the bomb threat e-mails had been traced and the accused will be given exemplary punishment.
Ludhiana MP and Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who visited Golden Temple on Saturday evening, said the Centre and state governments were not taking cognisance of the e-mails threatening to target the shrine.
He claimed that an e-mail was received even after detention of the Faridabad software engineer. 'This proves that the sender is closely watching the police activity,' he said while addressing the media.