Last Updated: November 28, 2023, 09:26 IST
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
Taranjit Singh Sandhu posted photos of the event at the gurdwara in New York on X.
Sikh body condemns heckling of India’s Ambassador in New York gurdwara. Calls for strict action to preserve sanctity and peace in places of worship
A prominent US Sikh body has condemned the heckling of India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu during a visit to a New York gurdwara and urged the shrine’s management to take strict action against miscreants involved in the incident.
On Sunday, Ambassador Sandhu offered prayers at the Hicksville gurdwara in Long Island, New York on the occasion of Gurpurab. During his visit to the gurdwara, a group of Khalistani supporters made remarks about Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killed in Canada in June this year, according to videos of the incident circulating on social media. The hecklers were later escorted out by members of the Sikh community.
In a statement issued on Monday, Sikhs of America said gurdwaras are places of worship and should be free from personal political views. “We urge the management of the Gurdwara Sahib to take strict actions against these miscreants so that peace-loving Sikh Community in New York can come to gurdwaras freely without any fear or pressure,” Sikhs of America’s founder and chairman Jasdip Singh Jassee and its president Kanwaljit Singh Soni, was quoted as saying by PTI, in the joint statement.
“Ambassador Sandhu went to Gurdwara Sahib to pray and the management of Gurdwara Sahib honoured him with Saropa Sahib. After that, a handful of miscreants tried to disrespect him and violated the peace and sanctity of the Gurdwara Sahib. Gurdwaras are places of worship and should be free from personal political views,” the statement said. “Sikhs of America, the leading Sikh organisation in the USA, strongly condemns the disrespect of a Sikh devotee, Ambassador of India to USA Taranjit Singh Sandhu in a Gurdwara in Long Island, NY yesterday,” it said.
Ambassador Sandhu, who received a warm welcome at the Hicksville gurdwara against the perceived notion of opposition from Khalistanis, spoke about the historical linkages between Sikh Gurus, Sikhs, and Afghanistan. In his speech, Sandhu highlighted growth in the India-US partnership across healthcare, energy, IT, new emerging technologies, semiconductor and education sectors.
Khalistanis ‘Heckle’ Indian Envoy at US Gurdwara? As BJP Leaders React, Here’s What Sources Say
After the video of the ‘heckling’ incident went viral on social media, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa denounced the incident, stating that these ‘goons’ who disrespected the grandson of a great 20th-century Sikh leader are ‘not Sikhs.’ BJP National Spokesperson RP Singh revealed that the pro-Khalistan supporter who was involved in the incident at Hicksville Gurdwara was in fact the President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for the Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum.
(With agency inputs)
