Great News, Golden Temple To Use Phone Jammers Soon

[JSinghnz]

Soon, Golden Temple to use phone jammers

Yudhvir Rana, TNN | Jul 19, 2012, 03.07AM IST

AMRITSAR: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sikhs' highest religious body, is preparing to install jammers inside the

Golden Temple

complex to stop the "menace of ringing mobile phones".

The Sikhs' holiest of holy shrine receives over 1 lakh people everyday and the entire complex literally remains abuzz with the sound of thousands of ringing cell phones.

Hundreds of devotees have complained to the SGPC and requested it to ensure that some kind of ban is imposed on the usage of cell phones within the temple premises.

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar told TOI on Wednesday, "We have been getting complaints from devotees about the maddening tunes and beeps of mobile phones, which disturb them and create obstruction in worship."

The SGPC has set up a panel to recommend suggestions for keeping the phones out of the temple complex. "We are planning to install jammers as banning phones would not be an easy task." According to SGPC officials, it would be very difficult to take care of over a lakh phones everyday.

"Depositing and returning of mobile phones is a gigantic task as more than a lakh devotees pay obeisance at the Golden Temple everyday. The better option appears to be the installation of jammers," said Makkar.

The SGPC has already installed phone jammers near the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple.

"Being without a mobile phone in today's life is something unimaginable but it is a good idea to jam the mobile phone signals in holy places," said

Ravinder Singh

a businessman from Ambala who was at the Golden Temple to pay respects along with his family members.

[N30S1NGH]

Excellent idea, hope this could be implemented all across the board - all of gurdwaras.

[singher23]

Great...although hopefully calls to emergency numbers will be allowed through

[Dev1975]

About time. I found myself getting really annoyed at some old uncle at the Gurdwara recently. He was sat right behind and as the paath was going on, his phone rang. That was bad enough (he could have cancelled the call straight away) but what annoyed me more was the fact that he answered it and started talking in a loud voice, telling his matey on the line that he was at the Gurdwara. I turned around to look at him and gave him a dirty look and shortly afterwards he stopped the convo.

You would have thought that a "syana" would not do stuff like that but I've seen it happen countless times before. If their convo is more important than listening to paath, then they should take it outside where it belongs. Mobile phones don't have any place inside the Gurdwara IMO.

[VanHelsingh]

About time. I found myself getting really annoyed at some old uncle at the Gurdwara recently. He was sat right behind and as the paath was going on, his phone rang. That was bad enough (he could have cancelled the call straight away) but what annoyed me more was the fact that he answered it and started talking in a loud voice, telling his matey on the line that he was at the Gurdwara. I turned around to look at him and gave him a dirty look and shortly afterwards he stopped the convo.

You would have thought that a "syana" would not do stuff like that but I've seen it happen countless times before. If their convo is more important than listening to paath, then they should take it outside where it belongs. Mobile phones don't have any place inside the Gurdwara IMO.

Shocking. Elders should know better.

[Mehtab Singh]

I've had an uncle ask me to do chaur sahib seva since his phone rang while he was doing chaur, and 5 minutes later he comes back, thanks me and is back at it.