New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday called upon Pakistan to reverse its arbitrary decision which deprived the Sikh community of its right to manage affairs of the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib.
Addressing a virtual press briefing here on Friday, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “This decision runs against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, it has also hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community at large. We have been receiving representation from the Sikh community expressing grave concern at this decision Pakistan which targets the rights of the minority Sikh Community in Pakistan”.
“We have conveyed that Pakistan needs to reverse its arbitrary decision which deprives the Sikh community of its right to manage affairs of the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib," he added.
This came after Pakistan decided to transfer the management and maintenance of Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body.
Earlier today, India summoned a diplomat of Pakistan High Commission over the transfer of management and maintenance of Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib to a non-Sikh body.
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The move came a day after India highly condemned Pakistan’s unilateral decision to transfer the management and maintenance of the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib away from the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee, a body run by the minority Sikh Community, to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body.
According to sources, after being summoned, Pakistan diplomat arrived at South Block in Delhi. Earlier on Thursday, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee delegation led by President Majinder Singh Sirsa met MEA joint Secretary (PAI) JP Singh over the issue.
The decision by Pakistan came days ahead of the first anniversary of the inauguration of the historic Kartarpur Corridor on November 9. The four-km long corridor links Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur in India to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
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India had described Pakistan’s decision as highly condemnable. The MEA had said, “This unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly condemnable and runs against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as also the religious sentiments of the Sikh Community at large. Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and its leadership’s tall claims and welfare of the religious minority communities”.
Moreover, during the press briefing on Friday, reacting to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accusing India of being fascist, the MEA spokesperson said, “We should ignore such irresponsible statements. It is an attempt to distract international and domestic attention from the enormous socio-economic and political problems that Pakistan faces”.
