India on Thursday registered strong objection to Pakistan transferring the management and maintenance of Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSGPC) to a non-Sikh body. Reacting to the decision, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the "unilateral decision" by Pakistan was "highly condemnable".
"We have seen reports about Pakistan transferring the management and maintenance of the Holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib away from the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSGPC), a body run by the minority SIkh Coommunity, to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body. The unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly condemnable and runs against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor as also the religious sentiments of the Sikh community at large," the ministry said in a statement today.
Further, the ministry said that it has received representations from the Sikh community expressing "grave concern" at this decision by Pakistan "targeting the rights of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan".
"Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and its leadership's tally claims of preserving and protecting the rights and welfare of the religious minority communities. pakistan is called upon to reverse its arbitrary decision to deprive the Sikh minority community it's right to manage affairs of the Holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib," the ministry said.
The Pakistan government has transferred the management and maintenance of Kartarpur Sahib from PSGPC, a body run by the minority Sikh community in Pakistan, to Evacuee Trust Property, which is a non-Sikh body.
India and Pakistan in 2019 signed an agreement to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor to allow Indian pilgrims a visa-free visit to the holy gurdwara, believed to have been built on the site where Guru Nanak died in the 16th century, and located some 4 km inside Pakistan.
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