Top UK diplomat calls Sikh temple mosque, apologises

Press Trust of India  |  London 

A top UK has called one of India's holiest places, the Golden Temple, a mosque following which he apologised for the gaffe amid protests by the community.

"At party, presented with picture of The at in in 1997, a permanent memento for Deputy High Commission's wall," he tweeted.

On realising his mistake, he apologised for the gaffe.

The top said this morning: "I was wrong: I am sorry. I should of course have said the or, better, Sri Harmandir Sahib".

However, Bhai Amrik Singh, the of the Federation, 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".

"In our view, a public apology and admitting the mistake is not enough. What we need is a commitment from the and senior civil servants to root out such ignorance and discrimination or we will continue to face hate, abuse and threats of violence," he was quoted as saying by

The also known as Sri Harmandir Sahib, located in the city of Amritsar, is one of the most revered spiritual sites of in the world.

The gaffe comes as announced plans to launch an independent inquiry into Britain's military role in the Indian army's 1984 raid on the in will be launched under a government.

The promised that an investigation into the attack, which is said to have left thousands of people dead, would be in the party's next manifesto.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, April 24 2018. 17:10 IST