Muted Gurbani telecast on Heritage Street outside Golden Temple irks Sikh Sangat

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, November 22

Limited hours of Gurbani telecast and that too muted on the five large LCD screens on the Heritage Street leading to Golden Temple has irked the Sikh Sangat. Visitors heading to pay obeisance at the holiest Sikh shrine have demanded that the screens should be made audible.

Daljit Singh, an NRI from the UK, said he had been staying in a hotel on the Heritage Street for the past two days. “All LCDs on the street show achievements of the government with a photograph of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann being highlighted the entire day. Only limited hours are devoted to the telecast of Gurbani in the evening and that too without audio,” he said.

One-liners highlighting the achievement of the government keep flashing the entire day. Some of these include ‘Bhrashtachar Mukt Punjab, Sarkar ne Nibhaya Vada’ (Government fulfilled its promise of corruption-free Punjab), ‘Sikhya ate Sehat budget wich 57 per cent vadda (57 per cent rise in education and healthcare budget), Punjab Sarkar Walon Ditiya 36,524 Sarkari Naukariyan (government has given 36,524 jobs), etc.

Jaspinder Kaur from Jammu said drab advertisements do not attract attention of visitors during the day when sunlight is at its peak. It is only during late evening and night that beautiful lighting pattern and these LCDs draw the attention of visitors.

Satnam Singh, a trader, said a few years ago Gurbani used to be telecast and it was audible along all the street. About two months ago the SGPC had installed an LCD on the Heritage Street, which telecasts live Gurbani from the sanctum sanctorum day and night.

Officials monitoring all five screens said these were installed under the beautification of the stretch to Golden Temple in 2016. As per the documents of the project, large LCD screens were installed for the purpose of advertising.