New Delhi, September 27
Sikh leaders in the Capital today condemned the attack on Nankana Sahib Gurdwara, the birthplace of Guru Nanak. A delegation of the DSGMC will visit the place to get a first-hand account of the incident.
DSGMC president Prahlad Singh Chandok said the DSGMC delegation, which is in Lahore, would visit the holy Gurdwara tomorrow and had been asked to get the details of the incident.
Reports reaching here said the gurdwara and a college in its campus were attacked by a mob on Saturday.
The incident comes at a time when the leaders of India and Pakistan are talking of improving bilateral relations and increasing people-to-people contact.
“It is totally wrong and we deplore the incident. On the one hand Pakistan is talking friendship and on the other, it is attacking our gurdwaras there. The Government of Punjab in Pakistan should take immediate action against those behind the attack,” SAD Delhi unit president Avtar Singh Hitt said.
“It is shocking and has happened for the first time since Independence. We appeal to Lahore Chief Minister and President Musharraf to urgently take stock of the situation and see to it that such incidents do not happen again,” World Sikh Organisation, president Vikramjit Singh Sawhney said.
“The act appears to be that of miscreants. No true Muslim would do it as Islam and Sikhism have very old connection. Guru Granth Sahib has verses of various Muslim saints and even the foundation stone of the Golden Temple was laid by Muslim saint Mian, Mir,” Mr Harinder Pal Singh, SGPC (Amritsar) member said.
“The mob first attacked the college and then stormed the temple and threw stones at it” to protest a committee’s recommendation that the Punjab Government return the Government Guru Nanak Degree College building to the Nankana Sahib Trust to accommodate Sikh pilgrims and shift the college to some other premises, Daily Times reported quoting the police.
The attack drew protests from the Sikh community who demonstrated in front of the Lahore Press Club.
“Things are under control. We are satisfied. But there are some miscreants who want to tarnish the Pakistan-India talks. The attack was the first of its kind in the history of Pakistan,” Kalyan Singh of the Sikh Sangat of Pakistan was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi deplored the incident, saying those who took law into their hands would be dealt with sternly.
Tarlochan Singh, Chairman of the National Minorities Commission currently in Dubai, condemned the attack, saying it would damage bilateral relations when two countries were trying to come closer.
