“Reward” for helping 205 helpless people: FIR registered against management of Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla

NEW DELHI, India—The Delhi police have booked the management of Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla under sections for violating the lockdown norms and not maintaining an adequate social distance between the 205 Punjabi people who thronged to Gurdwara premises after finding no way out.

The FIR has been registered under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code at Civil Lines police station.

Notably, these 205 Punjabis belonging to different religions were shifted to Nehru Vihar School premises following repeated requests by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.  

Reacting to the move, DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa has said that these people arrived at Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla on March 29 and they duly informed Delhi as well as  the Punjab government on March 30 seeking their immediate evacuation.  

He further said that the Delhi administration came into action only when he took up this issue over social media.

Sirsa said that all these people were kept in hygienic conditions at Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tilla while the Delhi government has now moved them to an unhygienic place while asking DSGMC to provide langar for these people.  

“It was the government’s duty to provide them shelter. The DSGMC had offered the langar hall of the Majnu ka Tilla gurdwara to set up a quarantine facility around 15 days ago,” he said.

Sirsa has said that the Delhi government’s ‘reward’ to DSGMC for its pro-humanitarian services was not a surprise for them and they will continue to provide food to these stranded people.