No air defence guns deployed at golden temple, says indian army amid sgpc objection - the statesman

The Indian Army has refuted claims about the deployment of air defence (AD) guns in the Golden Temple during Operation Sindoor. The rebuttal followed a statement from the Shiromani Gurdwara

Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which denied the Director General of Army Air Defence’s assertions regarding the presence of weapons on the gurdwara premises. In a statement, issued late on

Tuesday evening, the Indian Army said, “Some media reports are circulating with respect to deployment of AD guns in the Golden Temple. It is clarified that NO AD guns or any other AD

resource was deployed within the premises of Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar (the Golden Temple).” Advertisement Earlier, in a post on X, the SGPC, while denying Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan

D’Cunha’s claim about the deployment of air defence guns deployed at Sri Harmandir Sahib during heightened India-Pakistan tensions, stated that it was “shockingly untrue and outrightly

false”. Advertisement Quoting Giani Amarjeet Singh, Additional Head Granthi of Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib, the post said that the gurdwara’s management had cooperated with the district

administration’s guidelines regarding the city-wide blackout by switching off exterior and upper lights of the complex within the specified time frame. “However, lights at locations where

religious code of conduct (Maryada) is observed were kept on, and the sanctity of the religious place was maintained with full responsibility,” it read. Giani Amarjeet Singh asserted that

the claim made by the Army officer that the Head Granthi gave permission for deploying air defence guns during “Operation Sindhoor” is completely false. He emphasised that no such permission

was ever granted, nor was any such deployment allowed at this sacred site. He reiterated that the daily religious practices at Sri Darbar Sahib, the Langar of Guru Ramdas Ji, places of Sri

Akhand Path Sahib, and other related gurdwaras were conducted as per strict protocols, and no one has the right to interfere with them. Despite the tense situation in recent days, the full

religious code of conduct continued at Sri Harmandar Sahib with dedication and discipline. The SGPC President, Harjinder Singh Dham,i also demanded that the Government of India should

clarify why such statements are being issued by Army officials. Dhami acknowledged the commendable role played by the Army and the country during the tense circumstances, but emphasised that

spreading such falsehoods about the central religious place of Sikhs days after the events is shockingly untrue. The controversy erupted after Lt Gen Sumer Ivan, during an interview with

ANI, stated that the Golden Temple hierarchy realised there was possibly a threat when it was explained to them. “They allowed us to deploy guns to secure and protect the monument of

international fame, which is visited by hundreds and thousands of people every day. Hence, these guns were deployed, and the golden temple lights were switched off so that we could clearly

visualise the drones as they were coming in. That gave us a greater clarity in the sky because as and when you saw the light, you knew what to engage,” he said during the interview. “It was

very nice that the Head Granthi of the Golden Temple allowed us to deploy our guns. It is possibly for the first time in many years that they switched off the Golden Temple lights so that we

could see the drone coming,” Lt General D’Cunha added. Advertisement