A day before the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC)-called Panthic gathering over Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s alleged controversial video, devotees arriving at Darbar Sahib under the Punjab government’s Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana were asked to remove identity cards carrying the Chief Minister’s photograph before entering the shrine.
A large number of devotees from different districts of Punjab visited Darbar Sahib under the government-sponsored pilgrimage scheme. Sikh activists associated with the Awaaz-e-Qaum organisation noticed that many devotees were wearing identification cards bearing Bhagwant Mann’s photograph.
The activists, led by Nobeljit Singh and others, raised objections, saying that Akal Takht Sahib had declared the Chief Minister a “Guru Dokhi" so devotees should not enter the Gurdwara wearing identity cards displaying his photograph.
The activists asked the pilgrims to remove the identity cards from around their necks before proceeding to the shrine. The devotees complied with the directions and removed the cards.
Some pilgrims participating in the Teerth Yatra said the identity cards had been issued by the government only for identification during the journey so that members of the group could be easily identified and would not get separated. They said the cards had no other purpose.
