This is Punjab, Not India: Woman Denied Entry Into Golden Temple
A Sikh woman who had the Indian flag painted on her face was denied entry by a guard inside the Golden Temple.
On 17th April 2023, a Sikh woman who had the Indian flag painted on her face was denied entry by a guard (sewadar) inside the Golden Temple. A video of the same is going viral on social media. Usually, visitors and tourists who go to Punjab get a tattoo of the Indian flag on their faces after going to the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post. It is a very common practice and tattoos are made almost every evening.
A man who was with the girl asks the staff member why she was not being allowed to enter the holy temple? He asked “Sardar jee, you stopped this girl from entering, what was the reason? In the viral clip, it is seen that they repeatedly ask the guard if this was not India and he can be seen disagreeing. He pointed out the flag painted on the woman’s face and said ‘This is Punjab, not India.’ Upon hearing this, the woman started arguing and said that he was talking rubbish (bakwas) and asked if the Golden Temple was not in India? The guard (sewadar) was angry and the argument escalated. He then tried to stop the woman and the man accompanying her from capturing this incident on their phone.
Businessman Harsh Keshri shared the video and wrote, “Woman denied entry to Golden Temple because she had an India flag painted on her face! The man who denied her entry into Golden Temple said this is Punjab, not India. Send this person to Pakistan's Punjab.” Keshri also tagged Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief Arvind Kejriwal. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa condemned the temple staff’s behaviour as inappropriate. Even if there was something objectionable on her part, Sewadar could have handled it in a polite way.
Later, the Secretary of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) apologized for the incident and defended his guard. He said, "We are apologetic over misbehavior on the part of any of our employees towards the visitors. Taking prompt action, we have replaced him and ordered an enquiry about this incident, yet his bad behaviour should not be stretched to make it a patriotic issue and defaming the Sikh religion. This is a Sikh holy place. Every religious place has its own decorum…we welcome everyone…we apologize if an official has misbehaved… The flag on her face was not our national flag as it didn’t have Ashoka Chakra. It could have been a political flag”.
People are worried as you all are aware that police are searching for Khalistani separatist leader Amritpal Singh who wants to separate Punjab from India and make a separate country. Now with the girl being denied entry into the Golden temple for having an Indian flag painted on her face and guard telling her this is not India… People are worried that those supporting the Khalistani movement are working in the Golden temple. Today the girl was just orally denied entry, who knows what they will do next. This is why people are worried.
