UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talks about alcohol in gurudwara, faces criticism

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson faced severe criticism after he talked about alcohol at a gurudwara in Bristol. 

Johnson was at the Shri Guru Nanak Prakash Singh Sabha gurudwara at St George's in Bristol on Tuesday to campaign for the Conservative party for the upcoming general elections in the UK.

The foreign secretary made the alcohol comments in reference to the UK signing an agreement with Indian to abolish taxes on Indian imports of British whisky. His statement in the gurudwara however drew an irate reaction from a female Sikh worshipper who was present at the religious institution, according to BBC reports.

Johnson, whose wife is half Sikh, was seen wearing an orange turban in the gurudwara as he spoke about how a Conservative government in the UK would increase free trade and sign a deal to abolish India's 150 percent duty on imports of British whisky.

The foreign secretary said that he is aware of how when Indians in the UK travel to India, they have to buy duty-free alcohol for their relatives from the airport shops. "I hope I'm not embarrassing anybody here by saying that when we go to India, we have to bring 'clinky' in our luggage," he reportedly said, adding, "We have to bring Johnnie Walker."

"There is a duty of 150% in India on imports of Scottish whisky. So we have to bring it in for our relatives duty free. Imagine what we could do with a trade deal with India, which there will be, because then the tariffs would go," Johnson said, according to BBC.

After listening to his statements, a furious Sikh woman, Balbir Kaur, said that talking about alcohol in a gurudwara is not appropriate.

"The core of our Sikhism is that alcohol should not be something that our people should be having. It is one of the things we are against," Kaur said. "And you are standing in a Sikh gurudwara and talking about alcohol in front of our Guru Granth Sahib, which is not right," she said in a raised voice. 

Responding to Kaur, Johnson apologised by saying, "I am very sorry if you think alcohol is a bad thing...I understand your point of view."

Other devotees present gathered at the gurudwara also objected to Johnson's comments and reportedly told him that he "would not have got out of the temple alive" if he had made similar comments in India, according to The Guardian reports.

"How dare you talk about alcohol in a Sikh temple?" another Sikh devotee said.

Johnson's spokesperson however disparaged the incident, stating that the foreign secretary was "simply making the point that a free trade with India could be huge for both sides."