New Delhi: Following Pakistan's move of transferring the management and maintenance of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara to a non-Sikh body a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation met External Affairs Ministry officials on Thursday and requested that issue may be taken up immediately with Pakistan Government about stopping the unwanted interference in Gurdwara affairs.
The meeting was attended by Harmeet Singh Kalka, President Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi state) and other senior leaders where they demanded the restoration of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee to look after the management of the historic Gurudwara.
Talking to media after the meeting, SAD spokesperson Manjinder Sirsa said that they have apprised the Ministry on how the Pakistan Government has constituted a Project Management Unit (PMU) under Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) for control and maintenance of the historic Gurudwara Sahib.
He said that it is shocking to see that the Pakistan Government has handed over control to a non-Sikh body which has no knowledge about Sikh traditions.
Sirsa added that they have told JP Singh, Joint Secretary of the Ministry and Incharge of Pakistan desk that a feeling of fear is being created in minorities with repeated acts of oppression, suppression and persecution in Pakistan. He said that the latest one is one of the most shocking developments of the Pakistan Government.
Also read: India denounces Pakistan move on Kartarpur gurudwara
He said that first four Sikh members Mohinderpal Singh, Gopal Chawla and two others were ousted from ETPB and now non-Sikh have been included in PMU and the Pakistan Government is declaring Gurudwaras as a Business model, which is totally wrong and ill logical. He said that Gurdwaras were never and will never be business models.
Condemning the decision, Sirsa added that it is a direct interference in Gurdwara affairs which is a highly sensitive matter for us. He said that Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib is a historical Gurdwara where Guru Nanak Dev Ji breathed his last and sentiments of Sikh Sangat worldwide are closely attached with this Gurdwara Sahib.
Sirsa further said that Gurdwara affairs are run according to Sikh Rehat Maryada. There is no Sikh representative in the proposed Project Management Unit in which Additional Secretary Tariq Khan has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and 8 other members have been nominated all of them are non-Sikh and none of them has any knowledge about Sikh Rehat Maryada and Sikhism.
