Offensive photo shoot at Kartarpur annoys Sikh community

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) A clothing brand recently came under fire after an alleged photo shoot at the Kartarpur Gurdwara in Pakistan. In the shoot, a Lahore-based model can be seen bareheaded, posing for the camera, compromising the sanctity of the place, Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and members of the Sikh community expressed annoyance over the fashion photoshoot at the Kartarpur shrine, Pakistan Observer reported.

Chaudhry slammed the designer and the model for the photoshoot.

"The Designer and the model must apologise to Sikh Community #KartarPurSahib is a religious symbol and not a Film set," he wrote on Twitter.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management committee, also condemned the act, calling it "desecration".

"Pakistan court issued arrest warrant of star who did dance video at Mosque; same must be done against this woman from Lahore as an example of treating all religion at par."

"Otherwise, any talk of respect for Sikhism is hollow," he said.

In another tweet, Sirsa commented: "Such behaviour and act at the pious place of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji is totally unacceptable! Can she dare to do the same at her religious place in Pakistan? Imran Khan and the government of Pakistan should take immediate action to stop this trend of treating Sri Kartarpur Sahib as a picnic spot by Pakistani people."

Meanwhile, the clothing brand, Mannat, has issued a clarification on the matter. The Instagram page has since removed the controversial posts and released a statement, the report said.

"The pictures posted on our accounts are NOT part of any shoot done by Mannat Clothing. These pictures were provided to us by a third-party (blogger) in which they were wearing our dress. Please note that Mannat has absolutely NO role in deciding how and where the pictures were taken," the statement read.

"However, we accept our mistake that we should not have posted this content and we apologise to every single person who was offended by this. All the holy places are very sacred to us."

"The pictures and posts have been removed from all our media channels. Again, we apologise wholeheartedly for hurting the public sentiment. Believe us when we say we had no such intention."

On the other hand, Pakistan Punjab Police in a statement said that they are investigating all aspects related to this incident and strict legal action will be taken against those responsible.

"Management of the concerned brand & model are being investigated. Worship places of all religions are equally respectable," reads the statement, as per the report.