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Ad shoot at Kartarpur Gurdwara: DSGMC urges MEA to take up issue with Pakistan govt
DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa has written to the external affairs minister, saying ad shoot on the Kartarpur gurdwara premises has hurt Sikh sentiments
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee on Monday wrote to Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar, demanding him to take up with the Pakistan government the issue of an agency using the premises of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib for promotion of women apparel. In pictures shared on social media, a model can be seen posing for an advertisement for a women’s clothing brand at the gurdwara.
“We urge the government of India to immediately take up this serious issue with the Pakistan government considering the sentiments of the community,” DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa wrote in the letter.
“A Pakistani business promotion agency used the premises of historical Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, Pakistan, for promotion of ladies clothes. This act of agency/model has deeply hurt the religious sentiments of Sikh community worldwide. It is unfortunate that the local administration allowed an agency to use the religious place of worship for such promotions (sic),” the letter read.
Sirsa said many complaints have been received from the Sikh Sangat regarding people using the gurdwara premises as a “picnic spot or to shoot TikTok videos wearing indecent clothes which hurts our sentiments”.
“This behaviour is totally unacceptable... We demand strict action against those who disrespect the sanctity of gurdwara sahibs; just like the Pakistan government acted against actress Saba Qamar for shooting a dance video in a historical mosque,” the letter added.
Pakistan police initiate probe
The Pakistan police on Monday initiated a probe into a Pakistani model’s bareheaded photoshoot for a clothing brand at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur following an Indian Sikh journalist’s criticism of the pictures for hurting the religious sentiments of the community.
Noting that the pictures have been uploaded on the social media, Indian Sikh independent journalist Ravinder Singh in a tweet highlighted the disrespect shown to the community and also tagged Prime Minister Imran Khan in his post.
Covering one’s head in a gurdwara is mandatory and considered as a way of showing respect for the revered place.
Reacting to his tweet, Azhar Mashwani, the Punjab chief minister’s focal person for digital media, said the matter had been “forwarded to concerned authorities for legal action”.
Shortly after, the Punjab police tweeted that they are investigating all aspects related to this incident and strict legal action will be taken against those responsible.
“Management of concerned brand & model are being investigated. Worship places of all religions are equally respectable,” it said in the tweet.
According to a report in the Dawn newspaper, the model’s photos were shared on the Instagram page of a clothing brand named Mannat Clothing, but were removed after the criticism.
Mashwani was quoted as saying in the report that police would first investigate the model and the brand’s role in the capturing of the photos and later register a case.
“The Police are checking whether the model conducted the photoshoot on her own or the brand carried out the session,” he said.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet said “the designer and the model must apologise to Sikh community” over the photos. “Kartarpur Sahib is a religious symbol and not a film set,” he tweeted.
Reacting to the whole controversy, the brand- Mannat Clothing- in an Instagram post apologised and denied that the pictures posted on their accounts were part of any photo shoot done by them.
“These pictures were provided to us by a third party (blogger) in which they were wearing our dress,” it said in the post.
“However, we accept our mistake that we should not have posted this content and we apologise to every single person who was offended by this,” it added.
