A popular claim on social media about Gurudwara Takht Shri Hazur Sahib located in Nanded, Maharashtra to use 50 years worth of gold collected from donations to build hospitals has been found to be misleading.
The claim was picked up by multiple media networks with some senior journalists also propagating it on Twitter.
Claim picked up from a 2020 video
The claim was based on a video uploaded in 2020 where Jathedar Kulwant Singh who was then recently discharged from the hospital had recommended that the gold donated to the Gurudwara should not lie idle and be put to good use. He had said that an ailing person in Nanded has to either rush to Hyderabad or Mumbai for treatment and hence it is time the city should have its own facilities.
Jathedar Kulwant Singh Ji said That Gurudwaras Have alot of Gold Donations but now it’s high time we should put these donations into Society Works and open Hospitals and Colleges. pic.twitter.com/AdRsoelGPF
— Japneet Singh (@singhwhotweets) November 23, 2020
He urged the devotees to rather donate for building hospitals and schools. “We have put a lot of gold on buildings and Gurdwaras..It is my opinion that a hospital or medical college should be built,” added Kulwant Singh.
Claim of using gold for hospitals misleading
Soon after the news was widely shared on social media, journalists from especially the Punjabi media declared the claim to be misleading.
Upon verifying the news with Takht Shri Hazur Sahib’s PRO, several journalists revealed that the news of releasing gold collected over 50 years for schools and hospitals is misleading and without facts.
A popular Punjabi Journalist Sandeep Singh was one of the first to bust the claim.
Replying to KC Singh’s post lauding the Gurudwara for its contribution, Gagandeep Singh, a journalist with TVPunjab informed that the Gurudwara has already called out the claim to be misleading.
Sanam Wazir a journalist and human rights activist Tweeted saying, “Confirmed the viral claim from Gurudwara Board, Takht Sachkhand Shri Hazur Sahib, there are no plans to release all of its gold for building hospitals. The news is not true.”
He also quoted Secretary Ravinder Singh who revealed, “We have enough cash and are building 50 bedded Covid center.”
Another journalist Shaminder Singh Mahi who also in his profile has mentioned ‘misinformation debunker’ revealed that the claim indeed is misleading as informed by Gurudwara’s PRO Sharan Singh Sodhi.
Another netizen claims to have confirmed the fact with the PRO of the Gurudwara himself and revealed that the claims were made in 2020 and in no way indicated the selling of existing gold.
Takht Shri Hazur Sahib is among the holiest sites in Sikhism. About 4,000 pilgrims from Punjab had remained stranded for about a month at the Gurdwara last year owing to the nationwide lockdown amidst the pandemic out of which more than 100 were found to be Covid positive.
The claims that the Takht Shri Hazur Sahib in Nanded is going to release its gold collected in the last 50 years for building hospitals, are fake.
