After authorities in Punjab said that so far 197 pilgrims out of the 3,500 brought back from the Nanded’s Takht Hazur Sahib Gurudwara in Maharashtra had tested positive for the coronavirus on their return to Punjab, the Akal Takht on Friday demanded a high level probe in the matter, reported The Tribune.
The 197 out of the almost 4,000 pilgrims who returned from one of the holiest sites in Sikhism make up a third of the 585 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Punjab. Taking into account the 20 deaths and people who have recovered, they represent about 40 per cent of the “active cases” in the state.
However, officiating jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said, “Each of the pilgrims at Hazur Sahib underwent medical tests thrice and none was found to be infected. How could so many of them on their return contract the infection? I suspect that like the Tablighi Jamaat (Muslim sect), the Sikhs too are being defamed under a conspiracy. A probe should be held as I doubt the authenticity of ‘tests’ being conducted in Punjab.”
He alleged, “It is being propagated as if Takht Sri Hazur Sahib was the home to coronavirus and these people carried it with them to Punjab. It is a very big conspiracy. How come they turned coronavirus positive after they reached Punjab? This question comes to the mind of everyone.”
It has now been reported by The Times of India that as many as 20 staffers from the Nanded Gurudwara, majority of them associated with Langar, have tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. Two drivers and one attendant who were associated with the buses that transported stranded Sikh devotees to Punjab, have also tested positive for the virus.
The health authorities and Punjab government are still in conflict about the timing of the pilgrims contracting the disease.
Nanded district deputy collector Prashant Shelke on Saturday said that a group of gurudwara staff was serving over 3,700 stranded pilgrims, some of them were found to be positive only after they return to their native state, Punjab.
He said, “Majority of the staff was associated with Langar, which is a community kitchen at gurudwara. Together we had taken swab samples of around 97 gurudwara staff over a period of last two days till Friday of which 20 samples have been tested positive while another 25 have been tested negative for Covid-19 and results of remaining samples are still awaited.”
“The two drivers and attendants had travelled to Punjab and returned back during a period from April 23 to April 28. Their swab samples sent to the lab also turned out to be positive for Covid-19. We have traced 13 close contacts of the confirmed cases and put them under isolation at health facilities,” he added.
Responding to the claims of the Punjab government that the Sikh pilgrims had contracted the disease in Maharashtra and was not noticed by the local administration, concerned authorities said, “We had carried out total three health check-ups of all the devotees at regular intervals and none of them showed any symptoms such as fever, cough or cold during any point of time. We had requested gurudwara authorities to strictly follow social distancing and hygiene related norms. We had also asked them to immediately contact us if any health issues were found among stranded devotees. We will investigate whether any lapse has taken place on any front.”
The gurudwara has been closed for devotees and public movement and the services of Langar have been suspended till further notice, he added. It was reported that all 90 staffers from the Nanded gurudwara have been shifted to a dedicated Covid-19 care centre and health authorities have taken a massive contract tracing operation.
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