New Delhi, May 20 (UNI) The Indian Army on Tuesday clarified that no air defence guns had been deployed in the Golden Temple premises during the military stand-off with Pakistan, seeking to defuse a controversy over the matter.
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)".
The controversy arose after Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D'Cunha during a podcast had said that the Head Granthi of the Golden Temple had allowed the Army to deploy air defence guns during Operation Sindoor.
Meanwhile, the Head Granthi of Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, Giani Raghubir Singh while talking to reporters said that the claim of deployment of air defence guns in the Golden Temple was "completely false".
He said that from April 24 to May 14, he was not even present at Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar as he was in America during that period.
Giani Raghubir Singh said that no one from the Army or the government ever contacted him regarding any permission for deploying air defence guns at Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple).
He also demanded that the matter be investigated by the SGPC and necessary action taken.
The SGPC in a statement said that the Indian Army officer's statement about deploying air defence guns at Sri Harmandar Sahib is "shockingly untrue".
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami stated that "no such permission was granted, nor did any such incident occur".
Giani Amarjeet Singh, Additional Head Granthi of Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib also denied that any AD guns had been placed in the revered temple's premises.
He clarified that the management of Sri Harmandar Sahib 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.
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