AMRITSAR : The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has urged chief minister Bhagwant Mann to declare Amritsar a holy city, demanding a complete ban on sale of liquor and tobacco in vicinity of Golden Temple and routes leading to the holiest Sikh shrine.
SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Manan wrote a letter to chief minister on Saturday, days after BJP leader and former IAS officer Jagmohan Singh Raju raised the issue with Akal Takht jathedar giani Raghbir Singh and the state government.
“The SGPC has long been demanding a complete ban on liquor vends and tobacco sales around Sri Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple), the central religious shrine of the Sikhs and the spiritual centre of humanity in Amritsar, as well as on the routes leading to it. However, no appropriate and effective step has been taken in this regard by the state government,” the letter reads.
“This lack of action negatively impacts devotees. Amritsar is a sacred city, known as the city of the Guru, where millions of devotees from across the country and abroad visit daily. It is the government’s duty to recognise the ambience of Harmandar Sahib and grant the status of a holy city,” the letter adds.
On November 30 last year, Raju, who resigned as additional chief secretary in Tamil Nadu to unsuccessfully contest the 2022 Punjab assembly elections from Amritsar East constituency, wrote a letter to the jathedar raising concern over the sale of liquor and tobacco in the vicinity of the Golden Temple terming it as sacrilege.
{{/usCountry}}On November 30 last year, Raju, who resigned as additional chief secretary in Tamil Nadu to unsuccessfully contest the 2022 Punjab assembly elections from Amritsar East constituency, wrote a letter to the jathedar raising concern over the sale of liquor and tobacco in the vicinity of the Golden Temple terming it as sacrilege.
{{/usCountry}}Raju’s demand had come four decades after the BJP held march favoring sale and use of tobacco products in Amritsar to protest against a SGPC call to declare Amritsar a holy city.
“I am very thankful to the Akal Takht jathedar who asked the SGPC to take up the issue with the state government,” said Raju reacting to the letter written by the SGPC.
In 1980s, the Dharam Yudh Morcha had sought Vatican-like status to Amritsar. In 2018, radical sikh groups in other countries, engaged in secret talks with the government of India, put forward three main demands, including an apology at a global forum for the 1984 military operation in the Golden Temple and a special status for the Akal Takht and Harmandar Sahib on the lines of the Vatican.