Top UK Diplomat Apologizes After Calling Golden Temple a Mosque

Head of United Kingdom’s diplomatic service in the Foreign Office, Simon McDonald issued an apology on April 23 after he mistakenly called the Golden Temple a mosque while posting a picture of his visit to Amritsar on the social media. The Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, McDonald, referred to the Golden Temple in Amritsar as the “Golden Mosque” on the social media on Apr. 23.

“At Queen’s Birthday party, presented with picture of The Queen at Golden Mosque in Amritsar in 1997, a permanent memento for Deputy High Commission’s wall,” he wrote on Twitter. His gaffe received instant backlash on the social media.

Hi, very senior Foreign Office official. The big Sikh temple in Amritsar is definitely not a “Golden mosque”. pic.twitter.com/FMYLoGifl6

— Callum May (@callummay) April 23, 2018

“It’s embarrassing and inexcusable for the United Kingdom’s top diplomat to confuse the world famous Sri Harmandir Sahib (‘Golden Temple’) for a mosque. We need better faith literacy,” said Jasvir Singh, chair of City Sikhs on Twitter.

Built in the 16th century, the Golden Temple in the Indian state of Punjab is the chief place of worship for Sikhs. Sikh Federation UK asked McDonald to apologize to the Sikh community for calling the Sikhs’ holiest shrine a ‘mosque’ within 24 hours, reported the Hindustan Times.

Soon after he realized his gaffe, McDonald took to the social media on April 23 where he said, “I was wrong: I am sorry. I should of course have said the Golden Temple or, better, Sri Harmandir Sahib.”

I was wrong: I am sorry. I should of course have said the Golden Temple or, better, Sri Harmandir Sahib. https://t.co/4rJ4mwOdCJ

— Simon McDonald (@SimonMcDonaldUK) April 24, 2018

Saying that “public apology” was not “enough” Bhai Amrik Singh, chair of the Sikh Federation UK said, “This was a major gaffe by a top civil servant and totally unacceptable. It demonstrates a remarkable level of ignorance from someone in his position.”

Calling for a commitment from UK government to root out “ignorance” and “discrimination”, Singh added: “What hope is there for the average person to distinguish between Sikhs and Muslims, if someone holding his position can make such a massive blunder while visiting the Sikh homeland?”

Singh pointed out that it is this sort of ignorance or ‘mistaken identity’ that “breeds hate and has resulted in Sikhs being abused, attacked and in some cases killed across the globe since 9/11.”

Meanwhile, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Apr. 25 said he would launch an independent inquiry into the UK military’s role in the Indian Army’s raid on the Golden Temple in 1984. It will be there on the election manifesto. The opposition leader promised at Sikh Federation event in Watford, as per The Guardian.

Sikh groups had been repeatedly calling for an independent inquiry into UK government’s role in Operation Blue Star. In March, the Sikh Federation UK had launched a process for judicial review into the nature of the country’s alleged involvement in the operation.