ISI Arm To Handle Kartarpur Gurdwara; Sikhs Protest Move
Condemning Islamabad’s decision to transfer the management and maintenance of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara to a non-Sikh body, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Thursday urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the matter with the Pakistan government to stop the “unwanted interference” in Gurdwara’s affairs.
It is unfortunate that the Pakistan Cabinet has handed over the management of the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur to an ISI organisation Evacuee Trust Property Board, Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) President Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Thursday.
“It’s unfortunate that Pakistan cabinet has handed over Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur’s management to an ISI organisation ETPB from Pakistan Gurudwara Committee, which is a Sikh organisation. A non-Sikh body will now control the historic Gurudwara,” Sirsa told ANI in New Delhi.
This comes as the Pakistan government transferred the management and maintenance of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib away from the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSGPC), a body run by the minority Sikh Community, to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETBP), a non-Sikh body.
Earlier today, India objected to Pakistan’s “unilateral decision” to transfer the management and maintenance of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara to a non-Sikh body, stating that it is highly condemnable and is against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs called upon the Pakistan government to reverse its arbitrary decision to deprive the Sikh minority community the right to manage affairs of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Sikh faith’s founder Guru Nanak Dev.
The move by Pakistan’s government comes days ahead of the first anniversary of the inauguration of the historic Kartarpur Corridor on November 9. The 4-km long corridor links Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur in India to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. (ANI)
