SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami urged clarification from S Jaishankar and Vipul on the confiscation of two holy saroops of Guru Granth Sahib by Doha Police, disputing MEA’s claim.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Saturday asked external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Indian ambassador in Qatar Vipul to clarify the actual situation on confiscation of two holy saroops (scriptures) of Guru Granth Sahib by Doha Police, stating that MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal’s statement that one saroops had been returned was ‘factually incorrect’.
In a statement issued here, Dhami said the minister and the envoy should make the Sikh community aware of the actual situation. “We have got the authentic information that both the holy saroops are still with the police. The government should not make unclear statements on this. It should make sincere efforts to get back the saroops with due respect”, Dhami said.
On Friday, MEA spokesperson Jaiswal in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said: “We have seen reports regarding Guru Granth Sahib copies seized by the Qatari authorities and the demand for their release by the Sikh community. The government has already taken up the matter with Qatar and our embassy has kept the Sikh community in Doha abreast of developments in this regard.”
Jaiswal said one copy of Guru Granth Sahib has been returned, while efforts are on to secure the release of the second.
Disagreeing with the MEA statement, the SGPC chief said three ‘saroops’ were with the police and the local Sikh community got one back from the police a few months ago.
“We appreciate the MEA for initiating the efforts but creating confusion in the community is not fair. Initially, the police confiscated three saroops in two separate incidents. Of them, two are still with the police. Jaiswal is talking about returning one saroop, but it was already got back by the Sikhs many months ago,” Dhami said.
“Keeping the ‘saroops’ confiscated at a police station is a disrespect that cannot be tolerated. This matter was recently brought to the notice of the Akal Takht jathedar by UK-based Bhai Kanhaiya Humanitarian Aid following which the SGPC pursued the matter,” Dhami added.
As per SGPC’s statement, the UK-based Sikh body found that a Sikh man was arrested by Doha police in Qatar in December last year. He was later released, but the two ‘saroops’ taken from him are still kept at Al Wakara police station by the Doha police.
Dhami said that the Sikh man had been practising his faith privately along with local community members at a gurdwara established on his private property at Birkat Al-Awamer without any public display due to strict restrictions of the Qatar government on the non-Islamic faiths’ public worship. Dhami sought the release of the ‘saroops’ and their reinstallation on the same premises.
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