Who Is Archana Makwana? Designer Criticised For Doing Yoga At Golden Temple

An FIR against fashion designer and lifestyle influencer Archana Makwana has been registered by the city police of Amritsar. This action was taken after she posted pictures of her doing yoga in front of the Golden Temple on Instagram. These pictures went viral and were later deleted. This act allegedly hurt the sentiments of Sikhs who believed that the act was an infringement of traditional Sikh practices.

Who Is Archana Makwana?

Makwana performed 'Shirshasan' in front of the Golden Temple in honour of International Yoga Day on June 21. The FIR was filed after the complaints of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee were delivered by the Golden Temple general manager Bhagwant Singh Dhangera. She reportedly performed yoga in the Parikrama, which is the marble pavement where pilgrims offer prayers. She also then left the temple premises without offering any prayers, thus compromising the sanctity of the religious monument.

Her case has been registered as a violation of the Indian Penal Code section 295-A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class). The Sikh community believes that she had purposely intended to hurt religious sentiments.

Makwana's Response

Makwana has since then removed the pictures for which she received so much backlash and has posted a formal apology on her Instagram story.

She wrote, ''I was unaware that practising yoga in the Gurudwara Sahib premises could be offensive to some as I was just paying my respect to him and didn't mean any harm to anyone. I sincerely apologize for any hurt I may have caused and promise to be more mindful in the future. Please accept my sincere apologies.''

She claimed that she was only trying to send a message of unity on the event of International Yoga Day. Though she has issued a sincere apology, Makwana has continued to receive death threats, according to several news outlets.

The Vadodara Police have extended police protection to Makwana amid the controversy and backlash that she is receiving. She expressed her gratitude with respect to this gesture, ''I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the Gujarat Police and Vadodara Police for taking such a quick, prompt action .... Thank you Government of Gujarat for giving me police protection,'' NDTV reported.