Influencer Archana Makwana, who practiced yoga at the Golden Temple, says accusations against her are baseless

Fashion designer and influencer based in Vadodara Archana Makwana, who surrounded herself in controversies after doing yoga at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on June 21, sought quashing of the complaint filed against her.

In an Instagram post, Makwana, who also received police protection following death threats she received, said people who saw her in person doing yoga at the venue were not offended.

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She also said that one of those who clicked her pictures was a Sikh.

“When I was doing Shirshasana on June 21, 2024 at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, 1000 Sikhs were looking at me, no one stopped me or raised any objection. In fact, the gentleman who took my photo was himself a Sardarji, he didn’t find it offensive, he didn’t stop me from doing it, the people watching it live weren’t offended, so I wonder why it’s wrong and how this. Did he hurt anyone’s religious feelings?” (sic), we read in Makwana’s message.

“Locals who come to the temple every day don’t know the rules, so how can they expect a Hindu girl traveling for the first time to Punjab to know the rules, especially when no one stopped me “, she added.

“All this is baseless, I don’t know what is the propaganda of SGPC TRUST but I feel like a victim. The FIR against me should be quashed because the FIR has no basis, it’s just because the COMMITTEE SGPC has no basis.” “I didn’t disclose the true facts to the police, they accepted it. I tried to resolve this peacefully but they don’t seem to understand it, this is affecting my business and I will not tolerate it at all. ..”, said the influencer. .

“All those who agree with me and want to support me, please raise your voice against them stating that the FIR should be canceled by writing to the Punjab Police,” his message read.

The influencer also posted a video message on the social media platform, explaining her stance on the controversy.

CONTROVERSY

Archana Makwana performed “Shirshasan” at the temple on June 21 to mark International Yoga Day and posted photos from the scene on social media that went viral, sparking criticism, abuse and death threats.

She apologized for her actions and said she never intended to hurt anyone’s religious feelings.

On June 23, the Punjab Police filed a case against her under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious intention to outrage religious feelings of any class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after a complaint was filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. .

After receiving criticism for her photos posted on social media, Makwana deleted them and also apologized in a video, saying she practiced yoga at the holy site to spread the message of unity and fitness .