UK Sikh MP calls Golden Temple lynching youth a ‘Hindu terrorist’, receives criticism from Hindu community, Indian high commission

New Delhi, Dec 22: Erupting controversy regarding the Golden Temple lynching, Preet Kaur Gill, British Sikh MP, had shared a tweet in which she referred the man who was lynched to death at Golden Temple after an alleged ‘sacrilege’ attempt as a ‘Hindu Terrorist’. However, she deleted the tweet after the Indian mission in London and the Hindu community expressed anger over her this tweet on the incident.

 

 

In her initial tweet, she characterised the incident as "Hindu terrorist prevented from an act of violence at Sikh Holy Shrine of Harmandir Sahib, against Sikh". Her tweet got furious responses and has since been deleted. Moreover, her tweet angered the Hindu community not only in the UK but across the globe.

 

 

Vishwesh Negi, minister (press and information) at the Indian high commission, said: "The High Commission of India is constrained to unequivocally repudiate the public comment by a member of the British Parliament regarding a crime that occurred in India even before the Indian law enforcement authority could investigate or comment or declare their finding." He added that the Indian mission "is concerned at the effect that such commentary by a foreign MP may have on inter-communal harmony and peace in the British Indian community".

 

The MP later deleted the previous tweet and condemned both the sacrilege and lynching of the man who was responsible for it. She said in a tweet, "Beadbi incidents are unacceptable but the lynching of another person is also unacceptable and no one should take matters into their own hands. We need a full enquiry into these matters. @SGPCAmritsar @PMOIndia"

 

 

Rashmi Samant, a former Oxford student now living in Udupi, Karnataka, who was forced to quit as president of the Oxford University students’ union owing to her social media posts, tweeted: "We live in times where British MPs @houseofcommons can be employed to defend mob-lynching in countries beyond their jurisdiction."

 

on December 18, a youth allegedly jumped over a barrier into the sacred area of the the holiest shrine of Sikhs where the Guru Granth Sahib, the holiest book of Sikhism, is placed, and then grabbed a diamond-crusted sword and committed sacrilege. He was then beaten to death by sevadars. But he has not yet been identified.