Latest news with #SriDarbarSahib
United News of India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
SGPC objects to use of 'distorted' image of Golden Temple in Punjab govt ad
Chandigarh, May 24 (UNI) Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Saturday objected to a Punjab government's advertisement with a photo of the Golden Temple, alleging that the picture used is an "AI-generated distorted version" of the revered shrine. SGPC President Advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami condemned the act, terming it a violation of Sikh sentiments, and has sought an apology. Through the advertisement the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government has sought suggestions regarding the upcoming 450th foundation day celebrations of Sri Amritsar Sahib. Dhami stated that before publishing any image related to the Sikh religion, the state government should have consulted the SGPC. Advocate Dhami emphasised that Sri Darbar Sahib was the spiritual center of the Sikh faith and Sikhs across the world hold its sacred image deeply within their hearts. "By using an AI-generated distorted version of this revered site, not only has the sanctity and reverence of the Sikh faith been undermined, but also the spiritual aura of Sri Darbar Sahib — which resides in the soul of every Sikh — has been desecrated," he said. The SGPC President stated that despite the availability of hundreds of authentic images of Sri Harmandir Sahib on the internet, the use of an altered image, using computer techniques, was deeply painful. He demanded that the government clarify its stance and issue an immediate apology. Advocate Dhami further stated that organising events related to Sikh centenaries was the sole responsibility of the SGPC. The role of the government should be to focus on the development of cities related to Guru Sahibs, including improving road infrastructure, and to collaborate with the SGPC to establish meaningful and appropriate memorials. UNI GS MR RN
Hindustan Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
After Op Sindoor, Kartarpur Corridor closed, 150 Sikh pilgrims turned back
Kartarpur Corridor, the only open surface link from India to Pakistan, was closed on Wednesday morning, hours after Operation Sindoor was launched. Kartarpur Corridor, the only open surface link from India to Pakistan, was closed on Wednesday morning, hours after Operation Sindoor was launched. (HT file photo) Nearly 150 Indian Sikh pilgrims, who had arrived to take the Kartarpur Corridor for the pilgrimage to the historic Sri Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan, were asked to return home after a wait of an hour and a half at the integrated check post on Wednesday morning. The ministry of home affairs' bureau of immigration announced the closure of the Kartarpur Corridor 'till further orders'. Gurdaspur deputy commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh, however, said that the corridor has been shut for today (Wednesday). He said the district administration had not received any orders from the government for the coming days. The pilgrims had started arriving around 9am on Wednesday amid apprehensions that they would not be allowed to cross over to Pakistan due to the conflict underway since the wee hours. 'Immigration and defence officials told us that the situation is not conducive and advised us to return around 11am. It's unfortunate that we could not make it but national interest is above all,' said one of the pilgrims, requesting anonymity. After the escalating tension on the border since the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, there had been a steady decline in the number of Indian Sikh pilgrims going to Pakistan. On April 23, the Government of India had decided to downgrade diplomatic ties with Pakistan in view of cross-border links to the terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 people, most of them tourists. While trade through the integrated checkpost at the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar district was suspended, the Kartarpur Corridor had remained open till today. The corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Pakistan PM Imran Khan on November 9, 2019, on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the Indian Sikh community to have khuley darshan-didar (opportunity to visit) of the historic gurdwara. Under the bilateral agreement, Indian devotees have visa-free access to the shrine, which has turned out be a meeting point of people from Indian and Pakistan Punjab after they were divided by the Partition of 1947. The corridor was normally open from dawn to dusk and pilgrims had to return the same day. Last year, both countries renewed the agreement for five more years. Initially, the corridor was operational for four months before the governments of both countries closed it in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was reopened on November 17, 2021.
Hans India
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Akali Dal accuses LoP Gandhi of subverting question on 1984 riots
Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, on Monday condemned Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for not offering an unequivocal apology for the attack on the Sri Darbar Sahib and Sri Akal Takht Sahib, as well as his party-sponsored riots in 1984. 'Despite knowing that his grandmother ordered the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib in 1984 and his father's cronies led mobs who murdered and burnt Sikhs in cold blood on the roads of Delhi, Rahul Gandhi tried his best to subvert a question which sought to question the role of the Congress in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination which led to the massacre of 3,000 Sikhs,' she said in a statement here. She said when forced to answer the question at the Brown University in the US, the Congress leader did not apologise for either his grandmother or his father's actions. 'He tried to brazen it out by referring to the incidents as having occurred a long time back,' she claimed. Asserting that the evasive answer itself showed how much 'pain' he had for the Sikh community, Harsimrat Badal said instead of appreciating that it was the large heartedness of the Sikh community which did not stop him from entering Sri Darbar Sahib, Rahul Gandhi tried to give an impression that his visits to the holy shrine amounted to giving a clean chit to him and the Congress family. 'This is furthest from the truth. Our shrines are open for all. Rahul should have understood this and apologised for the criminal conduct of his family during his visits to the shrine instead of using the visits to whitewash himself and his family,' she said. She said it was even more shameful that instead of admitting their own fault, the Gandhi family had made a Sikh Prime Minister -- Dr Manmohan Singh -- apologise for the events of 1984. She also asked Rahul Gandhi to clarify what he was referring to as 'unfortunate' in his statement abroad. 'Does he think the attack on Sri Akal Takht was unfortunate or the subsequent genocide or the role of the Congress party in the spread of terrorism in Punjab,' she asked. The SAD leader claimed the truth of the matter was that the Gandhi family as well as the Congress had no regret for either the attack on the holiest Sikh shrine or the genocide of Sikhs in 1984.
