Ajay banerjee
Tribune news service
New Delhi, November 5
On Thursday, India condemned a move by Pakistan to transfer the management and maintenance of the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to the administrative control of the Evacuee Property Trust Board, a non-Sikh body.
The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (PSGPC), a body run by the Sikh minority community, had control of the shrine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) today called on Pakistan “to revoke its arbitrary decision that deprives the minority Sikh community of its right to manage the affairs of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.”
Kartarpur Sahib was opened last year for visa-free access through a Dera Baba Nanak ‘corridor’ in India.
“This unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly reprehensible and goes against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, as well as the religious sentiments of the wider Sikh community,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Sikh community has responded harshly and expressed great concern about this decision by Pakistan.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, chairman of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said he had asked the MEA for time to obtain and present a formal protest to the Government of Pakistan.
The MEA statement said: “Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and the high demands of its leaders to preserve and protect the rights and well-being of minority religious communities.”
