Donning white kurta-payjama and covering his head with a saffron cloth, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with his family all dressed in traditional Indian outfits, pay obeisance at the Golden Temple on Wednesday.
During his almost an hour-long visit to the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, the Trudeaus prayed at the sanctum sanctorum, offered karah prasad, performed ‘sewa’ in the community kitchen, just like any other common devotee.
Canadian Prime Minister’s visit assumes significance as the Sikhs constitute a large segment of people of Indian origin settled in Canada.
Accompanied by his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and two of his three children — Ella-Grace and Xavier, Trudeau reached the Golden Temple straight from the Amritsar international airport at around 11:55 am. The delegation of his ministers and MPs, his Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, also accompanied him.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Punjab Cultural Affairs and Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu also accompanied the Canadian premier at the Golden Temple.
Red carpet was laid out for the Canadian dignitaries by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Sukhbir Badal — the president of Shiromani Akali Dal that dominates the SGPC body, and SGPC president Gobind Singh longowal formally received the Canadian dignitaries. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was also authorised under the Protocol norms, and was also scheduled to be present, skipped the occasion.
The Trudeaus entered the community kitchen to see how world's largest kitchen is operated. They also tried rolling out chappatis at the Guru Ram Das Jee langar hall, where devotees do voluntary kitchen work for feeding visitors. However, the family did not partook langar.
Trudeaus took a round or ‘parikarma’ around the Temple, greeting the devotees and visitors, present there, with folded hands. Many of them were also seen holding their mobiles to take pictures and videos of the Trudeaus.
Inside the shrine, the Prime Minister and his family were given a ‘siropa’ (robe of honour).
Punjab police officials and the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force sewadars (volunteers) formed a security ring around the dignitaries. Canadian security officials were also part of their security cover.
Over 1,500 police personnel, comprising senior police officials including SSPs and DIGs, besides a SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, have been deployed in the holy city for the visit.
Earlier, Puri and Sidhu had received the Canadian Prime Minister and his delegation at the Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport at around 10.40 am. Amritsar Police Commissioner SS Srivastva and Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha were also present at the airport.
TRUDEAUS VISITS PARTITION MUSEUM
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also visited the world’s first Partition Museum at Town Hall in Amritsar — a short walk from the Golden Temple — on Wednesday.
Trudeau was accompanied by five of his Cabinet Ministers including Harjit Sajjan, Navdeep Bains, Bardish Chagger, Kirsty Duncan, and Amarjeet Sohi, besides 15 Members of Parliament.
Union Minister of State Hardeep Singh Puri, Punjab Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, and Amritsar Mayor also accompanied him, besides the CEO and curator of the Partition Museum Mallika Ahluwalia.
During his 25-minute stay at the Partition Museum, Trudeau spent time in the Gallery of Migration hearing the stories and looking at the various objects carried by people as they fled their homes and moved across the newly drawn borders.
He also visited the Gallery of Divisions which is dedicated to the women who were lost at the time of Partition. He spent the maximum time in the Gallery of Hope which focuses on love and reconciliation.
In his note on the Tree of Hope, Trudeau wrote that the Museum is “a poignant reminder that dividing people is never the answer; we must learn to live together and love our differences”.
Partition Museum is the world’s first Museum dedicated to the Partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, in two countries — India and Pakistan. The Museum is dedicated to all those millions impacted in the largest migration in human history and is a space of reconciliation.
The Museum uses multimedia exhibits, including oral histories, archival footage, historical newspapers, official files, as well as personal documents and objects carried by individuals and families who lived through the Partition to tell the story.