Pakistani authorities set up team to decide on handing over of historic gurdwara to EPTB

Peshawar, March 1

Pakistani authorities have set up a joint committee to decide on the handing over of an over 100-year-old gurdwara in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) for its restoration and proper preservation.

The team constituted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would visit Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara in Mansehra district before finalising its report and submitting it to the authorities, an official said here on Tuesday.

Built in early 1900s, the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara, which is known as an architectural masterpiece, currently houses a public library and is in the possession of Mansehra’s Town Municipal Administration since 1999.

The EPTB authorities have now demanded in writing from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government its handing over of the gurdwara to the board for its proper preservation.

The EPTB is a statutory board that manages religious properties and shrines of Hindus and Sikhs who had migrated to India following Partition.

The committee comprising deputy secretary of local council board Zahir Khan and Mansehra tehsil administrator Basharat Khan was formed following the EPTB’s request, the official said.