At Golden Temple, devotees, sewadars flout mask guideline, SGPC ‘helpless’

Golden Temple is at the centre of the Walled City, which has seem a high number of novel coronavirus infections owing to the narrow lanes and bylanes and dense population. Last month a senior citizen living near to Golden Temple died of Covid-19.




As long queues and hustle bustle returns to the Golden Temple, the authorities are in a fix on how to make the pilgrims at Golden Temple to wear masks, a critical protection that can go a long way in breaking the Covid-19 chain.

Currently both the pilgrims and even those performing sewa at the Golden Temple could be seen moving around without masks. While The Punjab government on April 9 had made wearing face masks for people mandatory in public, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) is caught between duty and devotion over imposing the Covid-19 protocol inside the gurdwara premises in Amritsar. The district is in the top three with most Covid cases.

“We gave clear instructions to the devotees to wear the mask. Our sewadar, standing inside the premises of Golden Temple, repeatedly keep telling the devotees to put on masks and follow all other Covid-19 protocol. We can only advise not force the devotees to wear masks,” said SGPC secretary Mahinder Singh Ahali.

Incidentally, even sewadars are seen moving around without masks. Ahali, however, blamed it on the nature of work. “Our employees follow the instructions. But there may be some jobs where they may have to remove mask. Otherwise no employee is supposed to remove it,” said Ahali.

Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh had earlier asked the Sikh community to follow the guidelines and protocol pertaining to Covid-19 issued by the government. The community was also urged to stay homes on festivals like Baiskahi and Gurpurabs. However, instructions to wearing masks are not being followed in spirit.

“When devotees are inside the Golden Temple premises, you cannot force them to do something that is not related to devotion. We can only make requests. For most devotees, it is a matter of faith and they believe that they cannot get infected inside the Golden Temple. It is here that they want to believe more in God and their faith than the instructions,” said Ahali, adding that it is the SGPC that will be blamed if the sewadars enter into arguments with devotees over the mask issue. “The devotees know what is best for them.”

Golden Temple is at the centre of the Walled City, which has seem a high number of novel coronavirus infections owing to the narrow lanes and bylanes and dense population. Last month a senior citizen living near to Golden Temple died of Covid-19.

Many areas of the walled City, which fall within one kilometre diameter of the Golden Temple, have remained containment zones. Currently, the Lakkad Mandi, situated about 500 metres from the gurdwara, has been designated a micro cantonment zone after detection of five cases.

The number of devotees coming to Golden Temple, which was never closed even during the lockdown, are still low as compared to the normal times.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said, “We have given very clear message from day one that Sikhs should follow instructions related to Covid-19. SGPC has also been taking care of social distancing and other parameters inside Golden Temple premises. We haven’t celebrated the historical days with full gatherings ever since the outbreak.”

“But still if more efforts are needed to make devotees wear masks, then SGPC will do it. But it is also a fact that government has allowed many such activities where mass gathering is unavoidable. We have seen some political activities recently. Buses are also running with full strength. All these developments have reduced the fear of spread of infection. So we need to observe the factors affecting behaviour of public in totality,” said Jathedar.

He said, “We should also remember there has been contradicting statements of world leaders and WHO over reasons behind spread of Covid-19. So it has created confusion in public and is the reason guidelines are not being taken that seriously by many.”

“Recently, we have seen how PCS officers called meeting of their association and many of them tested positive. But nobody targeted them the way Sikh priest Baldev Singh from Hoshiarpur was targeted. Nobody should be targeted. It should be seen as mistake not crime. Mistakes can be corrected but should not be repeated. SGPC has been following instructions and making other follow instructions. There is always scope of improvement. SGPC should look into it,” said Jathedar.

 

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