Amritsar: A memorandum was submitted to Deputy Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh by the Social Reform Organization Punjab to grant Amritsar the status of a holy city. In the memorandum, it has been demanded to permanently close the two liquor shops, paan-bidi, meat and fish shops present at Chowk Mahan Singh and build a beautiful “Golden Gate” here. Along with this, it has been appealed to keep all liquor shops, meat and fish stalls and paan-bidi shops closed on the Nagar Kirtan route during the Parkash Gurpurab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji on November 4 and 5.
The petition states that the condition of all the roads leading to Sri Darbar Sahib Ji has deteriorated, so these roads should be rebuilt with good premix and the sanitation arrangements should be strengthened. The condition of the corridors, parks and parking has also been described as worrying, which has been demanded to be improved so that the Sangat visiting Darbar Sahib does not face any kind of problem.
The petition also states that a large number of meat shops are operating in Hall Gate, Fish Market Bazaar, Police Station B Division and Kahian Wal Bazaar, due to which the environment of Guru Nagri is deteriorating and the religious sentiments of the Sangat visiting Darbar Sahib, Baba Deep Singh Ji Shaheed Asthan and Sri Durgiana Mandir are hurt. Therefore, it has been demanded to shift all these shops to a separate market outside the four walls of Guru Nagri.
The petition also stated that just as other religious places in the country — Kashi, Haridwar, Mathura, Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Kurukshetra and Badrinath — have been given the status of holy cities, similarly, Guru Nagri Amritsar, the residence of Guru Ramdas Ji, should also be given the status of holy city. The petition appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to fulfill the promise of giving the status of holy city to Guru Nagri as per the election manifesto.
On this occasion, President of the Social Reform Organization Ranjit Singh Bhoma said that if Amritsar is to be made a truly holy city, then it is very important to remove liquor shops and meat and fish shops from the four walls. He said that this is not only a matter of religious sentiment, but also a matter related to the devotion of the devotees and a clean environment.
On this occasion, religious and social leaders included Jathedar Harbans Singh Malli, President Jagdish Singh Wadala, Sarpanch Durga Das Dharampura, Lambardar Savinder Singh Wadala, Sucha Singh Nangal Pannwan, members Harbir Singh Bhoma, Palwinder Singh, Jaspal Singh Amritsar, Dilbagh Singh Khairabad, Palwinder Singh Sahansra, Narinder Singh Kler Magat and Manjit Singh Jaithuwal along with many others.
At the end of the petition, it was requested that if the cleanliness arrangements, prohibition of liquor and meat shops on the premix road were implemented in an experimental manner, the city would get a unique status of beauty and spirituality and Amritsar could truly be presented to the world as a city of Gurus.