Police register FIR against girl for performing ‘asana’ in Golden Temple

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, June 23

Day after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) lodged a complaint against Archna Makwana for performing a yoga ‘asana’ in the ‘Parikarma’ of the Golden Temple, the Kotwali police have registered an FIR against her for hurting religious sentiments.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Singh confirmed the development.

“We have gone through the CCTV cameras installed in Darbar Sahib. The girl did not pay obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum. In fact, it all seems to be planned for publicity. Therefore, an FIR has been registered,” he said.

On Saturday, the SGPC took a serious note of the social media post and lodged a complaint to Police Commissioner Ranjit Singh Dhillon for registering an FIR after pictures of her performing the yoga ‘asana’ in the Golden Temple complex went viral.

It also took action against its three employees for negligence.

The girl apologised for her mistake on the social media.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, in a statement issued here, said the girl had hurt the Sikh sentiments and violated the ‘maryada’ of the Golden Temple.

Archana Makwana, in a social media post, said, ‘I recently posted something without intending to harm anyone’s religious sentiments. I was unaware that practising yoga in the Gurdwara Sahib premises could be offensive to some as I did not mean any harm to anyone.’

She apologised for hurting others and promised to be mindful in the future.