Last Updated: October 03, 2023, 23:07 IST
Wearing a blue scarf on his head, Gandhi arranged shoes of devotees at a counter in the temple. (Image: Congress/X)
Wearing a blue scarf on his head, he visited the Sri Harimandir Sahib for the second consecutive day and also peeled vegetables at the ‘langar’ (community kitchen), served food to devotees, and washed dishes
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a Punjab tour, visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday to perform ‘seva’ (voluntary service) by arranging the shoes of devotees at a ‘Jaura ghar’ (shoe house). Wearing a blue scarf on his head, he visited the Sri Harimandir Sahib for the second consecutive day and also peeled vegetables at the ‘langar’ (community kitchen), served food to devotees, and washed dishes.
In the ‘langar’ hall, the Gandhi scion sat with women devotees as he peeled vegetables and interacted with them.
He served chapattis to the visiting devotees and partook ‘langar’. Later, he performed paid obeisance inside the sanctum sanctorum before leaving.
On Monday, he had performed ‘seva’ by offering water to devotees and cleaning their utensils.
The former Congress chief had listened to the ‘Shabad Kirtan’ (religious hymns) and taken part in the traditional ritual of ‘palki seva’, the closing rite in which the Guru Granth Sahib is taken for ‘Sukhasan’ to the Akal Takht.
Earlier in the day, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said it extended all cooperation to Gandhi during his visit to the temple. SGPC general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal said Gandhi was facilitated in every way during his visit to the Golden Temple and all support was extended to him while he performed ‘seva’.
The Sikh community is very generous and never keeps any personal animosity or hatred towards anyone, he said, referring to the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, when the Congress was in power at the Centre.
He, however, added many women lost their husbands and family members in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi but the Gandhi family never bothered to visit them.
Gandhi never bothered to say anything on these issues that could show his repentance, Grewal said referring to the riots and Operation Blue Star.
(with inputs from PTI)
