The incident occurred when he, along with his wife Gursharan Kaur, was coming out of the Golden Temple complex after paying obeisance there. The security personnel deployed there were caught off guard.
The agitators (about 40 in numbers) were later taken aside by the Punjab Police personnel. However, no agitator was allowed to reach near the Prime Minister.
The protesters were carrying posters of social activist Anna Hazare and raising slogans against the UPA government and in favour of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Earlier, clad in white kurta-pyjama and his trademark sky-blue colour turban, the Prime Minister and his wife Gursharan Kaur reached the holy Sikh shrine around 6.30 am. He did "parikarma" of the "sarovar" (sacred pond) before entering the sanctum sanctorum where he and his wife were presented "siropa" (robe of honour) by head granthi Jaswinder Singh.
During his 45-minute stay in the sanctum sanctorum, he listened to "shabad kirtan", paid obeisance at the Akal Takht and participated in the "ardas".
Afterwards, he was honoured at the information office by Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and Kiranjot Kaur, former general secretary and member of the SGPC, respectively. He was presented a gold-plated portrait of the Golden Temple, a set of religious books, robe of honour and a shawl by them. Bhaur also took up the issue of removal of turbans of Sikhs in the name of security at international airports in foreign countries.
The couple also paid obeisance at the Durgiana Temple where the management of the temple honoured him.
The Prime Minister also spent about 30 minutes with his immediate relatives at the Circuit House before leaving for the airport on way to Delhi.
Amritsar is the hometown of Dr Manmohan Singh. He spent his childhood here after his family migrated from Pakistan during Partition.
Black Flags shown to PM: Supporters of Anna Hazare raise slogans and wave black flags as they protest against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Amritsar on Sunday. — AFP |
He said it was not only unfortunate but highly condemnable that the holy place of Golden Temple was used for a protest at the behest of Akalis.
The PCC president said the episode seemed to be a handiwork of the disgruntled and frustrated Akali-BJP leadership that wanted to gain cheap publicity. He said some protesters, who were Akali-BJP workers, had reached there in the garb of devotees. They had not only shown disrespect to a devout Sikh (the Prime Minister), but also violated the sanctity of the Golden Temple.
He said the Team Anna had already distanced itself from the protest, which clearly meant that the
incident was stage-managed by the Akalis.
"It was simply a handiwork of the Akalis for seeking cheap publicity to make a handful of people to waive black flags to the Prime Minister using the name of social activist Anna Hazare," he said.
"The common Punjabi feels hurt and upset over the incident as it has not brought any good name to Punjab. Only the Akalis who have already lost the battle could be expected to stoop so low to use a holy place and sacred occasion for scoring petty political points even if it meant violating the "maryada" (of the Golden Temple) in the process," he said.
