Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Notice issued by Golden Temple, condemning “anti-India” movements by organisations using Sikh religion.
Fact
No such notice was issued, governing body of all gurudwaras dismisses it as fake.
A notice, purportedly from the Golden Temple, Amritsar, has gone viral on social media, amid the escalating tensions between Indian and Canada owing to the Khalistan issue, particularly among a slice of the Sikh diaspora in Canada. The viral notice states that all international gurudwaras must immediately stop supporting any anti-India movement that demands for a separate nation and supports any form of terrorism using the Sikh religion, particularly condemning banned terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International.
Here’s how the viral notice reads:
“We condemn any form of terrorism by Babbar Khalsa International and other organizations using Sikh religion to defame India. The Sikh community in India don’t need any coward agents residing abroad, demanding justice or a separate nation for us. The majority of Punjab still resides in Pakistan, including the Nankana Saheb. The terrorist organizations have never demanded the larger Punjab in Pakistan, which exposes their real anti-Indian intentions. Such organisations also kept quiet when our Sikh community was under attack in Afghanistan, and never provided any help or justice, which is their motto. We request entire Sikh community in India to follow the democratic path to achieve any political aspirations and vicissitudes for our community. The Sikh community stands with our beloved motherland for whom, our great Guru’s have sacrificed their lives to protect the unity, integrity and sovereignty of it. We hereby notify that, all international Gurudwaras must immediately stop supporting any form of Anti-Indian movement, which demands for a separate nation and supports any form of Terrorism using Sikh religion.”
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here. We received this claim on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, requesting us to fact-check it.
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Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Golden Temple notice Khalistan issue”, which did not throw up any news reports about such a notice.
We then looked up the website of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the representative organisation of the Sikhs and the apex governing body of the Sikh gurudwaras in India and abroad, where we did not find any such notice. Their X (formerly Twitter) account, too, did not have any such notice.
We also saw that the viral notice did not state it was issued by the SGPC, further raising our doubts. We then got in reached out to the SGPC spokesperson, who confirmed that the viral notice is fake. “The notice seems to be the work of some miscreants. We have not published any such statement.”
Also Read: Viral Video Does Not Show Waheeda Rehman Dancing To Old Bollywood Hit
Conclusion
Viral notice, allegedly issued by the Golden Temple, condemning the “anti-India” movement by certain “terrorist” organisations, was found to be fake.
Rating: False
Sources
Conversation with Jaskaran Singh, SGPC
(Inputs from Shaminder Singh)
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
