Bangladesh gurdwara mgnt board comes of age

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, November 18

The fledgling Kolkata-based Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Board, which made a wobbly start in 1972, has organised yet another successful pilgrimage. Pilgrims, numbering 200, reached Bangladesh on November 9. The last batch returned home recently.

Two dignitaries, including Obaidul Quader, the Bangladesh minister for roads, transport and bridges, visited the historic Nanakshahi Gurdwara at Dhaka and promised the pilgrims support for any programme organised at the shrine. “Hands folded and eyes shut, he stood in front of Guru Granth Sahib and prayed,” said an evidently pleased Harbhajan Singh, a resident of Amritsar and follower of the Kar Sewa sect headed by Sukha Singh of Tarn Taran.

Sukhdev Singh, also from Amritsar, recalled how the “nagar kirtan” in Dhaka on November 10 had drawn an overwhelming response. “We were looked after well. People from all religions attended the gurdwara functions. It seemed we were celebrating communal amity,” said Bhai Gurbux Singh of Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded, Maharashtra. “Awami League MP Quazi Rosy also visited the gurdwara and interacted with the pilgrims,” he added.

The Sikh pilgrimage circuit in Bangladesh consists of five gurdwaras — two each in Dhaka and Chittagong and one in Mymensingh. As Bangladesh does not have any Sikh population, there is no Sikh on the Dhaka-based Gurdwara Management Committee.

Headed by a Hindu, Parashuram Begi, and with local Hindus, Muslims and Christians as its members, the committee looks after the gurdwaras as well as pilgrims visiting the shrines during Baisakhi and Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary.

Controlled by Kolkata panel

• Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Committee is controlled by Kolkata-based Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Board
• Members and office-bearers of the Kolkata board are chosen by the Jathedar of Takht Patna Sahib
• Pilgrimage to 2 Dhaka shrines associated with Guru Nanak and Guru Teg Bahadur began in 2008