Amritsar, August 26
Giani Mohinder Singh (99), who had served as secretary, Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Lahore, from 1933 to 1947, says that there is no Muslim shrine within the gurdwara complex of Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh at Naulakha Bazar, Lahore, before Partition as being claimed by the Pakistan Evacuee Property Trust Board (PEPTB).
Talking to The Tribune at his residence here today, Giani Mohinder Singh, who had also served as secretary, SGPC, for more than two decades, alleged that it was a mischievous attempt to paint one of the domes of the gurdwara green with a view to project the place as that of a Muslim seer.
“In my capacity as secretary, gurdwara committee, I had organised many Hola-Mohalla festivals at Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh and Muslims who lived in the neighbouring areas used to cooperate,” he said. It was a matter of great concern that the Sikh shrine at Naulakha Bazar had now become the centre of a tussle between hooligans and the Sikh community. It had been in control of the PETPB for approximately 60 years, he added.
The SGPC and other Sikh organisations had claimed that hooligans had taken over the control of a part of the gurdwara with the support of the PETPB. However, PETPB chairman Zulfiqar Ali Khan and president, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Bishan Singh claimed that there was no tussle between the Sikhs and the Muslims.
At the shrine Muslims initially used to pray for their saint but later started offering Asr and Maghrib prayers and holding Quranic mehfils at the Sikh shrine since last week, triggering off the tussle between both communities.
Giani Mohinder Singh said that there was no truth in the claims of Sohail Butt, a Lahore-based Muslim leader belonging to the Dawat-e-Islami, who had stated that it was their tradition to enter the shrine and pay homage to Pir Shah Kaku. The Muslim leader had claimed that the Pir had died in 1477 and a plaque had been put up on a wall inside the Sikh shrine claiming this fact.
He said there used to be continuous reciting from Guru Granth Sahib at the gurdwara till the Partition.
Answering a question, Giani Mohinder Singh said it was unfortunate that the Sikh community had failed to preserve the Gurdwara, Lal Khuhi, in the heart of Lahore where Guru Arjan Dev was martyred. The Muslims had converted this gurdwara into a mazaar.
