Indian Army caught in its own web of lies over Golden Temple deployment
Army contradicts Corps Commander's claim, says guns not deployed
New Delhi: Operation Sindoor has turned into a thorn in India’s throat, exposing glaring contradictions within its military establishment, particularly on the issue of deployment of aerial defense guns at the Golden Temple, the Sikh holiest place in Amritsar.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in an interesting development on Tuesday evening, the Indian Army contradicted the claim made by Director General of Indian Army Air Defence Lieutenant General Sumer Ivan D’Cunha, who in a media interview on Monday categorically spoke about the deployment of air defence guns at the Golden Temple “to neutralise aerial threats from Pakistan”.
The Indian army, yesterday, confirmed the Sikh administrative institution Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) claim that no aerial defence guns were deployed at the Golden Temple in Amritsar during the recent India-Pakistan military conflict.
This admission comes after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) strongly refuted the Indian Army general’s assertions, asserting that no such deployment took place. The retraction not only weakens India’s narrative but also highlights the growing unease and internal disarray triggered by Pakistan’s successful countermeasures under Operation Bunyanum Marsoos against Operation Sindoor.
Lieutenant General D’Cunha’s remarks prompted a strong response from the SGPC, the primary administrative institution that manages the gurdwaras and Sikh institutions of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. It had said that “no such permission [to deploy arms] was granted” to the army.
“It is incorrect to say that the army was given permission to deploy air defence guns at Sri Harmandir Sahib. No such permission was granted, and no such deployment occurred,” the SGPC’s additional head granthi Giani Amarjeet Singh said in a statement, rejecting Lieutenant General D’Cunha’s claims.
On Tuesday evening, Indian army had to refute the claims of its own Lieutenant General D’Cunha and ‘clarified’ that no air defence guns were deployed at the Golden Temple.
“Some media reports are circulating with respect to deployment of AD Guns in The Golden Temple. It is clarified that NO AD [air defence] guns or any other AD resource was deployed within the premises of Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar (The Golden Temple),” the army said. In his interview to Indian news agency ANI, Lieutenant General D’Cunha had said: “It was very nice that the head granthi of the Golden Temple allowed us to deploy our air defence guns. It is possibly for the first time in many years that they switched off the Golden Temple lights so that we could see the drone coming. The unprecedented cooperation from the Golden Temple authorities came after they were briefed about the gravity of the threat, following which the guns were deployed.”
He claimed that the “the Golden Temple hierarchy” cooperated with the armed forces after realising that there was “possibly a threat”. “They allowed us to deploy guns to secure and protect the monument of international fame, which is visited by hundreds and thousands of people every day. Hence, these guns were deployed, and the golden temple lights were switched off so that we could clearly visualise the drones as they were coming in. That gave us a greater clarity in the sky, because as and when you saw the light, you knew what to engage,” he claimed.
Later, SGPC president and advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami also asserted that “there was no contact from any army official regarding the installation of air defence guns at Sri Harmandir Sahib”.
