COVID19 | Sikhs being maligned over Nanded: Akal Takht chief

With many pilgrims returning from Nanded testing positive for COVID-19, Akal Takhtjathedar Harpreet Singh on Friday claimed there was a conspiracy to malign the Sikhs over it just as the Muslims were after the Tablighi Jamaat episode.

At least 115 of the over 3,500 pilgrims who have returnedfrom Hazur Sahib gurdwara in Maharashtra’s Nanded in recent days have testedpositive for coronavirus, according to state government figures.

   

The jathedar who heads the main temporal seat of the Sikhs has now compared this to the “maligning” of the Muslim community after people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi were found carrying the virus to their homes across the country.

He alleged there was a “race to malign the entire Muslim community” over the Tablighi Jamaat episode and the “same kind of propaganda” is being carried out now.

“It is being propagated as if Takht Sri Hazur Sahib was thehome to coronavirus and these people carried it with themselves to Punjab,” healleged.

“It is a very big conspiracy,” the jathedar said.

He said the pilgrims stayed at the Nandedgurdwara’s “sarai”for over a month, volunteering for the “langarsewa”.

“How come they turned coronavirus positive after theyreached Punjab? This question comes to the mind of everyone,” he argued.

About 4,000 Punjab pilgrims were stranded at theNandedgurdwara due to the nationwide lockdown against coronavirus. Most of themhave been brought in the last few days.

The jathedar questioned the “credibility” of the testsconducted on the pilgrims on their return, and asked the government to clearthe air.

The religious leader claimed he was told that there were”only two positive cases” of coronavirus in the entire Nanded city. He wasinformed that all pilgrims were “tested thrice” at Hazur Sahib and were notfound to be infected, the jathedar said.

Harpreet Singh said the pilgrims, including women andchildren, returned after a 30-hour tiring journey.

He said there were complaints about the quarantinearrangements made for them and urged Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to setthings right.

“A video surfaced in Amritsar where some women arecomplaining that they are not getting water to drink. Some are being kept in’deras’ which is against their sentiments. It appears to be theirresponsibility on the part of the government,” he said.

He said the state government should have contacted the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for arranging the stay and meals for the quarantined pilgrims.

He, however, thanked CM Amarinder Singh for arranging theirreturn from Nanded, where they were stranded.

The state government has already ordered a 21-day quarantinefor people coming from outside. So far, 3,525 pilgrims from Nanded and 153students from Kota have returned to Punjab.Punjab saw its steepest rise in the number ofcoronavirus cases in the past two days with 115 Nanded pilgrims testingpositive till Thursday evening.

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