A notice purportedly issued by the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab condemning pro-Khalistan outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), is fake.
BOOM spoke to an official of the temple's managing committee who confirmed that the notice is fake and has not been issued by them.
The notice, purportedly issued by Sri Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple, condemns BKI's terrorism and the way it is "using Sikh religion to defame India." It asks the Indian Sikh community to follow the democratic path to achieve political aspirations and stand by India. It also calls for gurudwaras worldwide to stop supporting anti-India organisations.
Diplomatic tensions between India and Canada escalated this month after the latter accused Indian government agents of being involved in the death of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
Popular TV show host and celebrity Simi Garewal shared the purported notice by the Golden Temple on her X (formerly Twitter) account without any caption.
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
A caption on Facebook reads, "Thanks to the management of #SriHarimandirSahib ji for releasing this Notice. Sikh community is a part and parcel of #Bharat Republic of #India, as any of our other brothers and sisters. This whole sinister plan of demanding a separate state is coordinated by external forces."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
BOOM also received this notice on its WhatsApp helpline (+91 77009 06111)
FACT CHECK
BOOM spoke to an official of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the managing committee of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, who rubbished the viral claim and stated that the temple had not issued any such notice.
We looked for news reports regarding any related statement put out by the SGPC and did not find any results. Further, we also checked SGPC's official Facebook and X accounts which did not have any such notice posted.
BOOM then reached out to an official of the SGPC, who requesting anonymity said, "This is not our official document. It has been released by some mischevious elements. All announcements regarding the Golden Temple come through the SGPC which manages the affairs of the temple. It is a fake document that has been released for reasons unknown to us."
Regarding the India-Canada diplomatic row, the official said, "As far as the Indo-Canadian matter goes, we have already given our statement asking the governments of both countries to resolve the issue amicably. A lot of Punjabis and Sikhs live in Canada and the Canadian PM's statements do affect the community at large."
SGPC's official X handle posted about a meeting of the internal committee on September 25 regarding this issue. The post informs that a resolution was passed demanding the Indian government to look into the matter and take action against forces that were "tarnishing the image of the Sikhs". Read the full statement here:
"If needed, we will (file a complaint). We have some leads and are also aware that a prominent handle on X made a post about it. We are unaware why she posted this unverified document and why it is still present on her wall," the official further added.