Punjab: SGPC put up notices in Golden Temple reading, 'TikTok is prohibited here'

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) put up posters inside the Golden Temple reading "TikTok is prohibited here" as it doesn't want devotees to start a trend of shooting videos inside temple premises. These posters were put up on the premises after a few devotees shot and uploaded videos from inside the Sri Harmandir Sahib.

Jaswinder Singh, the manager at the Sri Harmandir Sahib, stated that if the youth did not stop shooting and making videos inside the temple premises, then the SGPC would have to ban mobile phones inside the temple. 

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Appealing to the youths Singh said, "We appeal to devotees coming here to refrain from such activities as it is a place of worship. Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib yesterday said if youth don't stop making videos then we'll ask SGPC to ban mobile phones in Temple premises." 

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Ban on Mobile phones

Earlier on Friday, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the top temporal body of Sikhs, Giani Harpreet Singh said Banning mobile phones inside the Golden Temple complex will have to be "thought over" if visitors continue to click selfies and shoot TikTok videos inside the holiest Sikh shrine.

"We want all devotees to visit the Golden Temple without any hassle and we are not in favour of imposing any such (mobile) ban but the way the incidents of TikTok are surfacing, I think imposing ban on carrying mobile phones inside (Golden Temple) will have to be pondered over in the future," Singh told reporters in Amritsar.

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Photography and videography in the precincts of the Golden Temple have already been banned by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to avoid any "disturbance" to the spiritual atmosphere.

Notice boards in the marbled periphery of the Sikh shrine, prohibiting devotees to click photos and make videos, have also been installed. However, devotees continue to take selfies with the Golden Temple in the background.

TikTok is a short-video platform that is extremely popular among youngsters globally, including India. Owned by China-based ByteDance, it has about 200 million users in India.

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(With Agency Inputs)