Golden Temple controversy: Girl, family apologise, plead for peace

On Monday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami had also condemned the narrative being created against the Sikhs on social media and asked devotees to follow the Maryada (code of conduct).

Days after a girl was allegedly barred entry into Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) in Punjab’s Amritsar as she had a Tricolour painted on her face, she and her father apologised for their act and pleaded for peace, on Wednesday.

A combo of two pictures shows a woman, left, with tricolour painted on her face who was allegedly denied entry to the Golden Temple by a temple staffer, right, in Amritsar, Monday. (PTI)

They said this while speaking to a local news portal at their residence in Ambala’s Naraingarh sub-division, three days after the controversy.

The incident and the conversation of the duo with a sewadar that followed, was also recorded on a video and had since gone viral on social media, leading to backlash.

Expressing regret, the girl said, “The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have apologised to us already and I feel hurt when such elderly people do so.... I’m sorry for the bad words and the wrong act.”

Her father said that on Saturday, they had visited Wagah Border in Amritsar and then headed to the Golden Temple.

“The video got leaked mistakenly from my daughter, but we were not in favour for sharing it with anyone. Following the incident, the committee members attended us respectfully. I appeal everyone to end this here. I apologise to the sewadar, the committee and everyone for my daughter’s mistake,” he added.

However, both refused to divulge the details on why exactly she was disallowed to enter and on the different narratives like the girl’s attire or procession of tobacco, being made out.

Toning it down further, the man said, “There was nothing in connection with tobacco and neither I was frisked. Rather, they showed us different tobacco products, explaining how devotees carry them and they are removed.”

He appealed to social media users to end the issue for the sake of communal harmony and brotherhood.

On Monday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami had also condemned the narrative being created against the Sikhs on social media and asked devotees to follow the Maryada (code of conduct).