COVID-19: Sikhs being maligned over Nanded, says Akal Takht chief

Chandigarh, May 1 () With many pilgrims returning from Nanded testing positive for COVID-19, Akal Takht Jathedar Harpreet Singh on Friday claimed there was conspiracy to malign the Sikhs over it just as the Muslims were after the Tablighi Jamaat episode.

At least 115 of the over 3,000 pilgrims who have returned from the Hazur Sahib shrine in Maharashtra in recent days have tested positive for coronavirus, according to state government figures.

The jathedar who heads the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs has now compared this to the "maligning" of the Muslim community after people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi were found carrying the virus on returning to their homes across the country.

He claimed there was a "race to malign the entire Muslim community" over the Tablighi Jamaat episode and the "same kind of propaganda" is being carried out now."

"It is a very big conspiracy," the religious leader said. CHS VSD ASHASH