Amritsar, April 6:— The organisers of the LGBTQ Pride Parade scheduled in Amritsar on April 27 have announced its cancellation after opposition from Sikh leaders and organisations, who termed the event as inappropriate for the holy city.
The video announcing the ‘Pride Amritsar’ parade recently went viral, drawing sharp criticism from Sikh groups. Bhai Paramjit Singh Akali, a prominent Sikh leader, issued a warning to the administration, urging them to halt the event.
“Amritsar is the land of Guru Sahib. We will not allow such a parade to take place here under any circumstances,” he said in a video.
He urged the organisers to voluntarily cancel the event, saying, “If the administration fails to act, we will stop it ourselves.”
Following this, the organisers posted from the official Pride Amritsar account confirming the cancellation of the event.
Ridham Chadha, the organiser, had earlier stated that the community has been holding such events since 2019 and that this would have been the fourth parade, with earlier ones held in Chandigarh. “About 1,000 members were expected to participate,” Chadha said.
However, the event met strong resistance, particularly from Sikh organisations who called it a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to disturb the peace in Punjab. They cited the presence of Sri Darbar Sahib, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, to argue against holding such events in Amritsar.
Sikh groups plan to meet the police commissioner to submit a written demand for a formal ban on similar events in the city in future.
