SGPC staffers manhandle elderly man, suspended

Amritsar, August 18

Chaos prevailed at the Golden Temple complex when Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) staffers allegedly manhandled an elderly baptised Sikh devotee near Akal Takht yesterday.

The whole episode, which occurred in the early morning hours on Wednesday, was captured by another devotee on his mobile phone. This 20-second video clip went viral on social media today. In the video clip a devotee was seen sitting on a staircase. As he tried to stand up two to three SGPC staffers caught hold of him on the staircase and dragged him down.

He jumped safety grill

He jumped over the safety grill, argued with sewadars, who retorted only to avoid any disruption in the ritual. Still, their reaction could not be justified and they were suspended. —Partap Singh, SGPC Additional Secretary

They pushed the devotee on the floor and forced him beyond the fence in an inhumane way, little bothering about his age. His turban was tossed away during the incident.

Acting swiftly, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami ordered suspension of two sewadars (attendants) Bhai Inderjit Singh and Bhai Kulwinder Singh.

The victim identified as Sarbjit Singh, wearing a black turban and ‘gatra’ (a string to hold small kirpan), was seen sitting on the staircase near Akal Takht, along with another devotee.

This is the same passage through which Guru Granth Sahib is ferried for ‘arambhta’ (early morning sewa) ritual. Also, Guru Granth Sahib is ferried to the sanctum sanctorum in the morning and for ‘sukhasan’, (an evening ritual in which the scripture is taken from sanctum sanctorum to Akal Takht for rest) through the same passage.

Generally, devotees present on the spot are made to stand beyond fencing to clear the passage and maintain a distance to avoid any disruption in the process.

SGPC additional secretary Partap Singh claimed that the elderly devotee violated restrictions, but still sewadars were suspended for their harsh behaviour.

“He jumped over the safety grill, argued with sewadars, who retorted only to avoid any disruption in the ritual. Still, their reaction could not be justified and they were suspended,” he said.

On the other hand, victim Sarbjit Singh lodged a police complaint against the erring SGPC employees. The sewadars have been summoned at the Galliara police station tomorrow.

Sarbjit said he regularly performed early morning ‘Palki’ sewa between 3 am to 7 am at the Golden Temple. “I have a heart and slip disc problem, which prevented me from standing in the queue. Since I was feeling uneasiness, I scaled the safety grill and sat on stairs when sewadars pulled and dragged me out of the place,” he said.