India on Thursday asked Pakistan to reverse its “arbitrary decision” to hand over the management of Durbar Sahib gurdwara, built at the site in Kartarpur where Guru Nanak spent the last years of his life, to a body without any Sikh representatives.
According to a notification issued on November 3, Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry handed over the management of Durbar Sahib gurdwara to a “project management unit” under the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a government department that oversees the shrines of the country’s minorities. The gurdwara was earlier under the management of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC).
This is believed to be the first time that PSGPC has been shut out of the management of a gurdwara in Pakistan. There are no Sikhs among the officials and staff appointed by the ETPB for the Darbar Sahib gurdwara, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
The external affairs ministry said in a statement that Pakistan had transferred the management and maintenance of the gurdwara at Kartarpur from the PSGPC, “a body run by the minority Sikh community, to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body”.
“Pakistan is called upon to reverse its arbitrary decision to deprive the Sikh minority community its right to manage affairs of the Holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib,” the statement 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,” it added.
The ministry said it had received representations from the Sikh community “expressing grave concern at this decision by Pakistan targeting the rights of the minority Sikh community”. It added: “Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and its leadership’s tall claims of preserving and protecting the rights and welfare of the religious minority communities.”
In November last year, India and Pakistan opened a 4.7-km cross-border corridor connecting Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Gurdaspur district with Durbar Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan’s Kartarpur to allow Indian pilgrims to visit the shrine without visas.
India is yet to decide on reopening its part of the Kartarpur Corridor, which was shut in March as part of Covid-19-related travel restrictions, following Pakistan’s recent decision to open its side.
New Delhi has called on Islamabad to construct required infrastructure, including a bridge at Budhi Ravi channel, for the safe movement of pilgrims over a stretch that gets waterlogged during the rainy season.
The gurdwara stands on the site where Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, spent the last years of his life.
India went ahead with the opening of the corridor to respect the sentiments of the Sikh community despite strong misgivings about several steps taken by the Pakistani side, including the imposition of a service fee of $20 on every pilgrim, and security concerns.
