Explainer: ‘Holy city’ status, and challenges

THE Punjab Assembly, during a special session to mark the 350th martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur, passed a resolution declaring Amritsar’s walled city, along with Anandpur Sahib and Talwandi Sabo, a ‘holy city’. The move aims to ban the sale of liquor, meat, tobacco and other intoxicants within the old city limits.

The demand to give Amritsar a ‘holy city’ status is decades old and deeply emotional for many. The Akal Takht Jathedar, local political leaders and activists, however, have cautioned that making an announcement is one thing, but enforcing such a ban on the ground is another challenge altogether.

Matter of sentiments

For Sikhs, Amritsar’s sanctity dates back to 1577, when Guru Ram Das founded it. During the 20th century, Sikh organisations began demanding ‘holy city’status for Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib and other important Sikh towns, drawing parallels with places like the Vatican City.

During the First World War, the British regime, needing Sikh soldiers, made a gesture to honour Sikh sentiments. In 1915, it banned liquor shops inside the walled city of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. A Punjab government notification issued on December 23, 1957, enforced this ban under the Punjab Liquor Licence Rules.

Officially, liquor shops are still not allowed inside the old city, but there has never been any ban on tobacco or meat.

Demand gains momentum

On September 24, 1980, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra met Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, urging her to declare Amritsar a ‘holy city’. In 1981, the Sikh Students Federation, Dal Khalsa and other Sikh groups demanded a complete ban on tobacco in the city and set a deadline for shifting out tobacco shops. BJP leaders opposed the idea.

The administration held joint meetings between Sikh and Hindu leaders, and they agreed to restrict the sale of liquor, tobacco and meat within a 300-metre radius of the Golden Temple. However, tensions rose sharply after two back-to-back protest marches, one led by BJP MLA Harbans Lal Khanna and the other by Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Although the police prevented major violence, the situation worsened. After Khanna’s killing and other violent incidents, the demand for ‘holy city’ status faded.

After normalcy returned in the mid-1990s and the Galiara project was implemented, the area around the Golden Temple began developing as a tourist hub. In the last 20 years, more than 1,000 illegal hotels have opened in the vicinity despite narrow streets and inadequate civic infrastructure.

Meanwhile, illegal networks continue to supply alcohol inside the walled city through home delivery. Several neighbourhoods, including Guru Bazaar, Patel Chowk, Chitta Katra, Bhai Wala Katra, Ahluwalia Katra, Bambe Wala Khoo, BK Dutt Gate, Jallianwala Bagh and Chabutra Chowk, have tobacco kiosks, and meat shops are common. Even Macchi Mandi (fish market) is inside the walled city.

The complexities involved

Over the past two decades, as Amritsar grew more as a tourist centre, no one pushed strongly for the ‘holy city’ status. In 2022, general secretary of the BJP’s Punjab unit Jagmohan Singh Raju revived the call to ban liquor, meat and tobacco in Amritsar. His party neither backed nor opposed him. Former BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla, however, publicly questioned him, asking, “Is only Amritsar holy? Isn’t the entire country sacred? Will merely banning alcohol make a city holy?”

This time, after the Assembly passed the resolution, the response has been largely muted. Akal Takht Acting Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj said the government has not yet shared full details. He questioned whether the intent was genuine or simply meant for public appreciation.

Amritsar Mayor Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia, who is associated with the hotel industry, welcomed the move. He said most pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple prefer accommodation where liquor and meat are not served. Congress leader Mahesh Khanna, however, raised doubts. He pointed out that despite the long-standing ban on liquor shops inside the walled city, illegal liquor is easily available. He asked how the administration, “which struggles to enforce rules within a 300-metre religious buffer zone, will keep the entire walled city free of these items?”

Amanpreet Singh Gill, Professor, SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi, points out: “Boundaries of religious code, including eating taboos, cannot be uniformly merged with physical boundaries of pilgrim cities. Any attempt in this direction is bound to create new challenges.” A pilgrim city’s sanctity is a collective and voluntary task performed by the citizens and the state authority is either irrelevant or incompetent in such spheres, he adds.