NEW DELHI: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Sunday approached the Delhi Police with a complaint against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including party chief Arvind Kejriwal, accusing them of disrupting the sanctity of Gurudwara Bangla Sahib and spreading “misleading” videos of the incident during Saturday’s anti-CEC protests.The controversy erupted after a group of protesters gathered inside the gurdwara premises while attempting to reach Jantar Mantar to demonstrate against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Police stopped them from proceeding and detained them.In its complaint, the DSGMC alleged that AAP workers and supporters entered the gurdwara and staged protests, creating a disturbance and using the sacred premises for political purposes.“The protesters also raised political slogans inside the sacred premises, disturbing the religious atmosphere and violating the sanctity and maryada of Guru Ghar. Such deliberate political activity inside a revered place of worship has deeply hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh Sangat,” the complaint read as per news agency PTI.
DSGMC seeks action against protesters
A delegation of DSGMC office-bearers, led by president Harmeet Singh Kalka, submitted the complaint at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police for New Delhi district. The delegation also provided videos purportedly showing protesters inside Gurudwara Bangla Sahib.The committee urged the police to identify those seen in the footage and investigate who had organised and directed them to enter the premises.“We request Delhi Police to identify each of these persons from the videos, ascertain who mobilised, organised and directed them to enter the Gurdwara premises, and take appropriate legal action against all those involved,” the DSGMC said.The complaint further accused AAP leaders and MLAs of sharing videos on social media that allegedly presented a “distorted version” of the incident and blamed the gurdwara management.“Arvind Kejriwal also publicly supported and amplified this narrative, despite the conduct of his party workers and the circumstances leading to the disturbance being visible from the available material,” it alleged.The DSGMC said the incident and the subsequent circulation of “selective and misleading” videos raised concerns about a possible coordinated attempt to trigger controversy at a place of worship, hurt religious sentiments, damage the committee’s reputation and gain political mileage.
Row over police entry into gurdwara
Kalka also raised concerns over the conduct of police personnel who entered the gurdwara premises to detain the protesters. He alleged that policemen accompanying Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had worn shoes when he visited Bangla Sahib.However, Kalka clarified that the Delhi Police personnel had used a passage inside the premises to reach the protesters and had not entered the Darbar Hall, the gurdwara’s main sanctum. He added that the policemen should not have entered the premises in uniform.The police, meanwhile, offered a different account of the incident.Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma said in a post on X on Saturday that the personnel had walked through a common passage used by devotees to reach the designated area where they remove their shoes before entering the gurdwara.Sharma also alleged that the video circulating on social media had been shared with “malicious intent” and assured that legal action would be initiated against those responsible.
Bhagwant Mann backs protesters
AAP leaders had alleged that the police entered the gurdwara to detain protesters who had taken shelter there.Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also defended the protesters’ presence inside Bangla Sahib in a post on X, condemning the police action.
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“I strongly condemn in the harshest terms the BJP’s police forcibly entering Gurdwara Sri Bangla Sahib in Delhi yesterday…” he said.Mann argued that gurdwaras had traditionally opened their doors to people in need and said protesters should have been offered shelter.“If the youth of this country protesting yesterday had entered there, the principle of the Guru’s house is that the sevadars would grant them shelter…,” he said.The competing allegations have turned the incident into a dispute over both the conduct of the protesters and the police response, with the DSGMC seeking an investigation into the events inside the gurdwara and the videos subsequently circulated online.