The Indian Army on Tuesday denied reports suggesting that air defence systems were deployed inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar to counter Pakistani drone and missile attacks earlier this month.
“Some media reports are circulating with respect to the deployment of AD Guns in The Golden Temple. It is clarified that no AD guns or any other AD resources were deployed within the premises of Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar (The Golden Temple),” the Indian Army said in an official statement.
Amritsar was targeted multiple times by Pakistani drones and projectiles in response to India’s Operation Sindoor, which was launched as retaliation for the April 22 terrorist attacks in Pahalgam.
The Head Granthi of the Golden Temple, Singh Sahib Giani Raghbir Singh, also dismissed the deployment of air defence systems within the shrine premises. “I have no information that the Indian Army reached out to us. I was on leave and travelling abroad. I want a thorough investigation into this matter. It must be made clear what the Indian Army’s real intent was behind this,” he said.
The clarification by the Indian Army came in the wake of reports that the Golden Temple management had allowed the Army to deploy air defence guns within the shrine to counter potential strikes from Pakistan.
The reports quoted Air Defence Chief Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha claiming that the Head Granthi of the Golden Temple had granted permission for the deployment of air defence systems within the sacred premises.
“It was very nice that the Head Granthi of the Golden Temple allowed us to deploy our guns. It is possibly the first time in many years that they switched off the Golden Temple lights so that we could see the drone coming,” Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha said in an interview with news agency ANI.
The officer, Director General of Army Air Defence, further noted that the Golden Temple authorities “realised there was a potential threat once it was explained to them. They allowed us to deploy guns to secure and protect a national war monument of international repute, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every day. As a result, the guns were deployed, and the Golden Temple’s lights were switched off.”
Referring to an earlier statement by Major General Kartik C Seshadri, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 15th Infantry Division, who revealed that Army Air Defence gunners had successfully intercepted all drones and missiles aimed at the Golden Temple, D’Cunha added that the Indian Army had anticipated Pakistan might target religious sites near the border, given the absence of legitimate military targets.
“Fortunately, we visualised what they (Pakistan) were capable of doing. Realising that they would target it because they had no legitimate targets across the border. They were more interested in creating confusion, chaos internally, and hence, we visualised that they would target our civil population and our religious places of worship,” Lieutenant General D’Cunha said.
Major General Seshadri, who also detailed the Indian Army’s operations at the Golden Temple, confirmed that all attacks on the Sikh shrine were successfully thwarted.
“The Pakistan Army has no legitimate targets to strike inside India, nor does it have the courage or capability to confront the Indian armed forces face to face. Hence, it uses terrorism as a state policy and resorts to launching unmanned aerial weapons from its own soil. They have even targeted religious places, particularly along the Indian border, a case in point being the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which witnessed a surge in drone and missile attacks that were bravely thwarted by our Army Air Defence gunners,” the Major said.
