125-year-old Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib recently witnessed a wall collapse owing to its dilapidated state
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib located in Farooqabad, Sheikhupura district of Punjab. Photo APP/file
Prime Minister’s Coordinator for the National Paigham-e-Aman Committee Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Saturday announced the reconstruction and preservation of a Sikh dharamsala in Punjab’s Sheikhupura after a wall recently collapsed due to structural weakness.
The 125-year-old Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib located in Farooqabad became the centre of a controversy after a partial structural collapse and subsequent illegal demolition by a local businessman.
While addressing the public after jointly touring the dilapidated Farooqabad dharamsala with the members of the community, Ashrafi said the committee representing leaders from a host 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 for Sikhs.
Emphasising that Pakistan was home to people of several faiths and sects, Ashrafi said that no one had the right to insult someone’s sect, religion, place of worship, or sacred artefacts.
He asked the public to avoid going inside the dilapidated building till renovation and restoration work concludes.
Read: ETPB rejects social media claims of Gurdwara Singh Sabha demolition 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 the President of Anjuman-e-Tajiran Farooqabad, Sheikh Shahzad Anjum were present during the tour and issued the joint statement underscored by Ashrafi.
The joint statement issued by the peace committee also highlighted that the government would not permit any change to the status or ownership of any temple, mosque, gurdwara, dharamsala, or land belonging to any particular religion or sect.
Meanwhile, the leaders also took the opportunity to reject the baseless propaganda of India and stressed that the Sikh holy site was under the control of the very community.
Read more: Indian Sikh pilgrims laud Pakistan’s hospitality, seek reopening of Kartarpur Corridor
A day earlier, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had rejected 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 inactive Gurdwara Singh Sabha, where the tenants tore down the structures without obtaining a permit from the ETPB.
According to the board, district officials intervened immediately after receiving information about the unauthorised work on June 24, halted the demolition, sealed the site and initiated legal proceedings against those responsible.
