Conspiracy Behind Sacrilege Attempt At Golden Temple: SGPC Chief

Police at the Golden Temple in Amritsar for Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's visit. A man was beaten to death after he allegedly attempted to commit a 'sacrilegious' act inside the historic temple (PTI)

SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami on Monday expressed the apprehension that a “big conspiracy” was behind the alleged sacrilege attempt at the Golden Temple and said the man involved in it seemed to have received “commando training”.

He also claimed that the law allows a person to kill in self-defence, suggesting that this is what happened at the Golden Temple when the man was lynched after the alleged sacrilege attempt.

He told reporters that suspecting foul play, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force had stopped the man from entering the Golden Temple but he managed to gain entry inside the sanctum sanctorum after the shift of task force members changed in the evening.

“I feel that he had undergone commando training from the way he jumped the railing and did it (made a sacrilege attempt) in just six seconds. There is a big conspiracy behind it,” Dhami said.

On being asked why the man was lynched when caught by the SGPC task force, Dhami said “devotees were angry over this incident”.

The man had picked up a sword and was going to attack the holy Guru Granth Sahib, which is considered a living entity by Sikhs, Dhami said. He said one can kill a person in self-defence if somebody attacks with an intention of murder and the law does not consider it as an offence.

Before the task force members could do anything, the man was beaten up by the angry crowd that led to his death, he said.

Dhami said the SGPC will set up its own special investigation team to “bring out the truth”.

The incident had taken place on Saturday evening when the man jumped golden grills inside the sanctum sanctorum, picked up a sword and reached near the spot where a Sikh priest was reciting the holy Guru Granth Sahib.

Less than 24 hours after the incident, another man was lynched for allegedly “disrespecting” the Sikh religious flag at a gurdwara in a Kapurthala village on Sunday morning.

Police have registered complaints over the alleged sacrilege attempts in both cases but no FIR appears to have been registered in connection with the deaths. (PTI)