Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has closed Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh, located in Lahore, for worship, claiming that it is a mosque. Pakistan's ETPB along with some fundamentalists has put a lock on the Gurudwara which has angered the Sikh community in the Islamic nation.

Evacuee Trust Property Board is a statutory body under the Government of Pakistan that administers property left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India during the partition. It was formed in 1960 following the Nehru-Liaqat Pact in 1950 and Pant Mirza Agreement in 1955.

A dispute has been going on for a long time regarding the Gurudwara situated in Lahore, The Dawn reported. A large number of devotees visit this Gurudwara every day and recite Guru Granth Sahib, the report said. The Gurdwara, located in Shaheed Ganj Naloukha area, has a long and tumultuous history, has been a bone of contention between the city’s Sikhs and Muslims.

The Gurdwara was constructed in the place where Sikh fighter Bhai Taru Singh was executed in 1745 by the Mughals. The Gurdwara was built on the grounds where the Shaheed Ganj Mosque existed earlier. This has led to the dispute that continues even today. While the Gurdwara was built in 1747, the mosque also remained in place for a long time, while the dispute between Muslims and Sikhs was heard by courts under British rule. But the mosque was demolished by a group of Sikhs in 1935, which led to communal riots.

The Sikhs hold that under the instructions of Mir Mannu, the governor of Lahore and a representative of the Mughal Empire, hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children from the community were massacred at this location.

The Sikhs allege that Mir Mannu personally authorized them to build a gurdwara here after they promised to assist him in the conquering of Multan at the request of Diwan Kaura Mal, who was afterward granted command of Multan by Mir Mannu, according to the story. Muslims, on the other hand, claim that once the Mughal Empire fell, the Sikhs forcibly took over the mosque, which was still operational. It is notable that after the fall of the Mughal empire, the Sikh empire was established in Punjab.

This is not the first time when Pakistan has locked a Gurudwara and claimed it to be a mosque. A similar incident was reported two years ago, when a prominent Gurudwara was declared a mosque, prompting the Indian authorities to intervene in the matter and lodge a protest. India had then stated that Gurudwara is a place of reverence and the Sikh community considers it as 'sacred'.

Image source: Discover Sikhism