Gurudwara Kartarpur SahibGurudwara Kartarpur Sahib narowal Pakistan

India has strongly protested over the decision of Pakistan establishment to transfer the management and control of Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib from the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) to a separate body the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) trust.

India on Thursday described Pakistan’s decision as “highly condemnable”, saying it runs against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.

“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,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi.

“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,” it said.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subramanian Swamy on Thursday hit out at the Pakistani government for taking over the management of Kartarpur Gurudwara from the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) to a separate trust. Taking to Twitter, Dr Swamy asked, “has Pakistan Islamic Dictatorship has taken over the management of Kartarpur Guru Nanak Gurudwara?”

To silence the critics, a Pakistani spokesperson said that the PSGPC will be part of the new controlling body.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) the supreme Hindu body says that is fallacious and misleading. Not one member is a Sikh.

VISHVA HINDU PARISHAD (VHP) CONDEMNS THE DECISION

Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) condemns the decision of the Govt. of Pakistan to handover Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib for management and maintenance from Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) to the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).

The argument that PSGPC shall continue to be a part of the management of Gurudwara is fallacious as amongst the nine members of the ETPB, not even one is a Sikh. The Project Management Unit formed under the ETPB will also look after the accounts of the Gurudwara and thus, there shall be no autonomy with the Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee to run the Gurudwara as per the rahat and maryada.

This amounts to subjugation of one of the most revered Gurudwaras in the world to the Govt. and in effect to the people of another viz Muslim faith. The MEA of the Govt. of India has lodged protest against it. VHP joins in the protest and demands that Pakistan Govt. may leave the Gurudwaras to be managed by the Sikh Community in Pakistan.