Sonia gets cold shoulder from SGPC during Golden Temple visit

Sonia gets cold shoulder from SGPC during Golden Temple visit
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

AMRITSAR, DECEMBER 28: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday visited the Golden Temple, the Sikh holy shrine here, and paid obeisance at the temple amidst tight security.

Gandhi, who was on her first visit to the temple, was however not presented with the siropa or a model picture of the temple by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), as it does in case of visiting VIPs. SGPC officials were also conspicuous by their absence during her visit.

Golden Temple's information officer Gurbachan Singh said Gandhi was not accorded the traditional honour as she, in her capacity as the Congress president, had not apologised for the 1984 storming of the temple and anti-Sikh riots and "honouring her with a siropa was not in the interest of Sikhs". He added, "If she apologises she will be definitely given the robe of honour the next time she visits the temple." Efforts by local Congress leaders to let her sign the visitor's book too failed.

Gandhi remained inside the temple for overhalf an hour and listened to the I>kirtan. She also inquired about some of the buildings in the complex and later sat outside the Akal Takht for a short while.

Later in a statement, Gandhi expressed her deep anguish and regret over the 1984 happenings, which she said should not not have happened. She said, "I have prayed at the shrine that such events must never happen again." "We are entering a new millennium. Let us do so in a spirit of forgiveness," she added.