The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Sunday filed a police complaint against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including party chief Arvind Kejriwal, alleging that party workers disrupted proceedings at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib during Saturday's protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and circulated misleading videos of the incident, according to PTI.
According to the complaint, AAP workers and supporters entered the gurdwara premises while attempting to reach Jantar Mantar for the protest and allegedly raised political slogans, creating a disturbance at the place of worship.
The DSGMC alleged that the protesters had attempted to use the sanctity of the religious premises for political activity, hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.
“The protesters also raised political slogans inside the sacred premises, disturbing the religious atmosphere and violating the sanctity and maryada of Guru Ghar,” the complaint stated, according to PTI.
A delegation of DSGMC office-bearers, including its president, Harmeet Singh Kalka, submitted the complaint to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi district), PTI reported. The delegation also submitted video footage purportedly showing protesters inside the gurdwara premises.
The committee urged Delhi Police to identify those seen in the footage, determine who had mobilised and directed them to enter the premises, and initiate appropriate legal action against those responsible, according to the complaint cited by PTI.
The complaint further alleged that AAP leaders and MLAs circulated videos on social media presenting a “distorted version” of the incident and blaming the gurdwara management. It also accused Kejriwal of publicly endorsing and amplifying that narrative despite the alleged conduct of party workers being visible in the available material, PTI reported.
Kalka also addressed allegations concerning the presence of police personnel inside the gurdwara. According to PTI, he said that when Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann visited Bangla Sahib, the policemen accompanying him had worn shoes.
Kalka said Delhi Police personnel who entered the premises to detain protesters had used a passage within the complex but had not entered the Darbar Hall, the main sanctum of the gurdwara. He nevertheless maintained that police personnel should not have entered the gurdwara premises in uniform, PTI reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma said in a post on X that police personnel had used a common passage frequented by devotees to reach the point where they remove their footwear before entering the gurdwara.
Sharma also alleged that a video circulating on social media had been shared with “malicious intent” and said legal action would be initiated against those responsible, according to PTI.
AAP leaders had alleged that police entered Bangla Sahib to detain protesters who had gathered there while attempting to reach Jantar Mantar for the demonstration against Kumar.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also criticised the police action in a post on X, alleging that BJP-led Delhi Police had forcibly entered the gurdwara. Mann said gurdwaras remained open to provide shelter to those in need and argued that protesters seeking refuge there should have been offered shelter by the sevadars, or volunteers who serve at the shrine.
In its complaint, the DSGMC said the sequence of events raised concerns that the disruption and subsequent circulation of what it described as selective and misleading videos could have been part of a coordinated attempt to provoke religious sentiments, malign the gurdwara management and gain political mileage from the controversy, PTI reported.
The complaint follows Saturday's security clampdown in Delhi, when police detained protesters attempting to reach Jantar Mantar for the demonstration demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Election Commission.
