When Turbanator Harbhajan Singh undid his turban and let his hair down during the shooting of a ‘surrogate liquor advertisement’ — which is yet to be telecast, and for which he modelled along with a couple of other Indian cricketers — he managed to spin out quite a controversy.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) has accused him of not adhering to the Sikh community’s model code of conduct of never appearing in public with one’s hair loose.
Harbhajan has had to apologise to the SGPC, and said that he had not meant to hurt the feelings of the community. “I am sorry if my unintentional act has hurt anyone. I am proud to be a Sikh and am a true disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, who sacrificed his entire family for the Sikh religion,” he said, adding that, earlier too, he had posed with his hair open, but nobody had been offended then.
However, the off-spinner was displeased that the SGPC had reported the matter to the media: “The matter could have been amicably resolved instead of being made into an issue,” he said. Further, he felt, that if the SGPC thought that he was a ‘role model’, it was strange that he had not been honoured at the Harimandir Sahib despite his cricketing achievements.