Photo: American Sikh Council
New Jersey, December 30, 2018: The American Sikh Council (ASC), an umbrella organization representative of the Sikhs in the US, appealed the Pakistan government to ensure that the entire Kartarpur Gurdwara complex is maintained in its present state, without adding anything new and/or changing the original architecture in any shape or form
Thanking the Pakistan Government for opening the Kartarpur corridor, the ASC in an emailed release, strongly supported every effort to maintain the original integrity of all important Gurdwaras, including the Kartapur Sahib complex across Pakistan.
Kartarpur Sahib can be called the first Gurdwara which was established in 1521. Bhai Dhuni Chand donated 100 acres to Guru Baba Nanak Sahibji where he started to till the land and use it for farming.
Any modification to accommodate visitors from lodging to restrooms and more must be done at a distance, away from the main complex so that the Kartarpur Sahib complex. The farms, natural areas in 100 acres of land that belonged to Guru Sahibji, and the forest areas around the river Ravi can retain as much of its originality as possible, to be preserved for posterity, it suggested.
“It has come to our attention that some among a long list of important Sikh historic religious sites in Pakistan are already under attack by the kar-sewa modernizing brigade. These and future attempts on destroying our living heritage must immediately be stopped in their tracks,” said the ASC.
Reiterating its plea to retain the Kartarpur Sahib complex in its current simplicity, the ASC asked the Waqf Board and the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandak Committee understand the legitimate concern of the Sikhs in diaspora. The religious heritage of a living faith must be preserved at any cost as the Sikhs have already lost more than 90% of it to the vagaries of politicians, divisions of land and time, it maintained.
Meanwhile, a group of concerned citizens have started a Facebook page to monitor and report on the developments of the Kartarpur Corridor and to make concerned voices heard in regards to the development