Refuting the claim of Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha, Director General of Army Air Defence where he said that the head Granthi of the Golden Temple allowed Indian Army to deploy guns to thwart Pakistani aerial attacks on it, Sikh religious authorities and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Tuesday clarified that no such permission was granted.
"Indian Army officer’s statement about deploying air fefence guns at Sri Harmandar Sahib is shockingly untrue. Head Granthi @SGPCPresident also states no such permission was granted, nor did any such incident occur", SCPC said in its official statement.
According to a report by The Indian Express, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami later also denied any coordination with the Army regarding gun deployment.
“The administration contacted us only to request cooperation with blackout protocols. We switched off the external lights after consulting with the additional head granthi. No Army official contacted us about any other matter,” Dhami said.
“It is incorrect to say that the Army was given permission to deploy air defence guns at Sri Harmandir Sahib. No such permission was granted, and no such deployment occurred,” Giani Amarjeet Singh, the additional head granthi of Sri Harmandir Sahib, said in a statement released by the SGPC.
“During the blackout issued by the Amritsar district administration, the management cooperated by switching off exterior and upper lights. However, at places where the religious code of conduct is followed, the lights remained on,” Giani Amarjeet Singh said.
Singh also mentioned that religious practices continued without interruption.
“The daily services at Sri Darbar Sahib, Langar Sri Guru Ram Das Ji, Akhand Path Sahib, and related shrines were carried out as usual. There was no disruption, and no one has the right to interfere,” he further said.
What Did The Indian Army Say?
In an interview with news agency ANI, which was released on Monday, Lieutenant General D’Cunha had said, “The Golden Temple hierarchy realised there was possibly a threat when it was explained to them. They allowed us to deploy guns, to protect… the Golden Temple’s lights were switched off so that we could clearly visualise the drones as they were coming in…”.
After India's strikes against terror camps at nine locations on May 7, Pakistan attempted to target the Golden Temple in Amritsar with missiles and drones.
Major General Kartik C. Sheshadri, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 15th Infantry Division, told the news agency ANI.
The Major General told ANI that the Indian Army had anticipated that Pakistan would target its military installations as well as civilian installations, including religious places like the Golden Temple.
"Knowing that the Pak Army does not have any legitimate targets, we anticipated that they would target Indian military installations and civilian targets, including religious places. Of these, Golden Temple appeared to be the most prominent," he told ANI.
"We mobilised additional modern air defence assets to give a holistic air defence umbrella cover to Golden Temple,” Major added.
