Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib, 125, recently witnessed the collapse of a wall due to its dilapidated state.
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib located in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura district of Punjab. Application/photo file
Prime Minister’s Coordinator for National Paigham-e-Aman Committee Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Saturday announced the reconstruction and preservation of a Sikh dharamsala in Sheikhupura, Punjab after the recent collapse of a wall due to structural weakness.
The 125-year-old Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib located in Farooqabad has become the center of controversy after a partial structural collapse and subsequent illegal demolition by a local businessman.
Addressing the public after jointly visiting the dilapidated dharamshala of Farooqabad with community members, Ashrafi said the committee representing leaders of a multitude of faiths and sects had decided to restore the heritage site.
He said he visited the religious site to express solidarity with the Sikh community and assured its members that the building would be protected by the provincial and federal governments.
Ashrafi stressed that the government and the committee would not allow anyone to encroach on the sacred site of Sikhs.
Pointing out that Pakistan is home to people of several faiths and sects, Ashrafi said no one has the right to insult someone’s sect, religion, place of worship or sacred objects.
He asked the public to avoid entering the dilapidated building until renovation and restoration work was completed.
Read: ETPB rejects social media claims about demolition of Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Sheikhupura
Maulana Zahid Mahmood Qasmi, Hafiz Maqbool Ahmed, Allama Ghulam Mustafa Haideri, Maulana Farooq Azam, Maulana Aslam Siddiqui, Maulana Salman Ashrafi, Maulana Shahid Saeedi, Maulana Mufti Umar Farooq, Bishop Kamran, Pandit Lal, Sardar Palvinder Singh, Sardar Ranjit Singh Gyani, Sardar Amarjeet Singh, Sardar Gulab Singh, Sardar Jakran Singh and Anjuman-e-Tajiran Farooqabad President Sheikh Shahzad Anjum were present during the tour and issued the joint statement highlighted by Ashrafi.
The joint statement issued by the peace committee also emphasized that the government would not allow any change in the status or ownership of any temple, mosque, gurdwara, dharamsala or land belonging to any particular religion or sect.
Meanwhile, the leaders also used the opportunity to reject India’s baseless propaganda and emphasized that the Sikh holy place was under the control of the community itself.
Learn more: Indian Sikh pilgrims hail Pakistan’s hospitality, demand reopening of Kartarpur corridor
A day earlier, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had dismissed social media reports regarding the alleged demolition of Gurdwara Singh Sabha.
In a clarification issued by the board, it said the demolition was limited to two shops adjacent to the dormant Gurdwara Singh Sabha, where the tenants demolished the structures without obtaining a permit from the ETPB.
According to the council, district authorities intervened immediately after receiving information about the unauthorized work on June 24, stopped the demolition, sealed the site and initiated legal action against those responsible.
