Islamabad: A local businessman has illegally demolished a 125-year-old historic holy ‘Gurdwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib’ in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The act, which took place on the night of June 24 in Farrukhabad, about 70 km from Lahore, has led to severe outrage among the minority Sikh community there, and the Indian government has also strongly condemned this act of destruction.
Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has strongly condemned this incident and issued an official statement. This act of destruction committed on a Sikh temple is extremely deplorable. He said that such incidents targeting minorities and their places of worship are continuously happening in Pakistan.
India has demanded that the accused who committed this heinous act be immediately arrested and brought to justice and that the Pakistan government itself immediately reconstruct the demolished parts of the gurdwara.
The businessman demolished the building without obtaining any permission (NOC) from the concerned department. Pakistani authorities were alerted only after local Sikhs took to the streets and protested. As the protests intensified, Minority Affairs Minister Ramesh Singh Arora visited the site and inspected it on the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Stating that the government is committed to protecting the religious rights of minorities, he announced that the restoration work of the gurdwara will begin immediately.
Local Muslim traders living around the gurdwara have objected to the government’s reconstruction plan. They argued that the gurdwara had been in ruins for the last 80 years and that many shops and families were residing here. They have demanded that if the gurdwara is restored now, dozens of families here will be left homeless, so the government should provide them with alternative housing and livelihood options.