Pakistan government locks down Gurdwara in Lahore, declares it a Mosque

Islamabad, Dec 07: The Pakistan government has locked the Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh in Lahore for worship and declared it as a Mosque. The decision was taken by the Evacuee Trust Property Board of Pakistan. The Board along with a few fundamental extremists locked down the Gurdwara which has led to anger among the Sikh Community in Pakistan.

The Board is a statutory body under the Government of Pakistan that administers property left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India during the partition. The Board was formed in 1960 following the Nehru-Liaqat Pact and Pant Mirza Agreement in 1955. Reports said that there has been a dispute for long regarding the Gurdwara in Lahore. A large number of devotees visit this Gurdwara everyday and recite the Guru Granth Sahib. This is not the first time that the Gurdwara located in Shaheed Gana Naloukha has been locked after it was claimed that it was a Mosque. A similar incident was reported two years back, when a prominent Gurdwara was declared a Mosque.

The Indian authorities had to intervene in the matter and lodge a protest. India had then said that the Gurdwara is a place of reverence for the Sikh community and it is considered as sacred.

The Gurdwara is located outside the walled city of Lahore is believed to have once houses the palace of Prince Dara Sheikh who served as a governor of Lahore before he was assassinated by his younger brother Aurangzeb.

The Sikhs say that it was at this site that hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children from the community were massacred on the order of Mir Mannu, the governor of Lahore and the representative of the Mughal Empire.

The Sikhs say that Mannu himself allowed them to set up a Gurdwara here after they agreed to help him in the conquest of Multan at the behest of Diwan Kaura Man. The Muslims say that the Sikhs took over the Mosque through force while it was functional. This was done after they came to power in Lahore following the fall of the Mughal Empire.