:dateline:Pained over the recent terrorist attack on Gurdwara Nanaksar Satsang Darbar, Punjab deputy chief minister’s wife, Harsimran Badal announced to take up the matter with Indian Prime Minister�Narendra Modi. �Speaking at a sangat darshan (public appearance) program in Bathinda on April 18, �Harsimrat Badal said that she would apprise the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj with the issue and ask her to take necessary steps to ensure safety of Sikh shrines located abroad.
In a press statement issued today, April 19, Harsimrat Badal stated, “I strongly condemn the explosion at the Gurudwara in Germany’s western city of Essen. I will meet the Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs soon and will appeal to them to take action for stopping racist attacks on Sikhs abroad.”
On April 17, a loud explosion was heard and felt at the Gurdwara Sahib of Essen, Germany. �A person wearing a face mask and clothed fully in black was allegedly seen planting�a bomb outside the Gurdwara near the Nishan Sahib (Sikh Flag pole). �Three persons were injured during the bomb blast, while the windows of the Gurdwara were smashed from the explosion.
Sikh leaders have appreciated Harsimrat’s concern for Sikh institutions located internationally. �However, she was criticized for lack of Government action in safeguarding Guru Granth Sahib’s saroops in Punjab. �Last year, series of incidents involving Guru Granth Sahib’s sacrilege across Punjab surprised the Sikh community. � Dozens of such cases came to the fore in which Guru Granth Sahib’s scriptures were torn apart.
In a statement shared with Sikh24 on April 18, Bhai Baldev Singh Wadala condemned the Punjab Government’s lack of seriousness in nabbing culprits who committed Guru Granth Sahib’s sacrilege last year across Punjab. �He said that the Punjab Government never took such incidents seriously.
