Stop sale of gurudwara land: India to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India has expressed concern and sought “remedial action” from Pakistan over the sale of land belonging to gurudwaras in Lahore. “The reported incidents of sale of some of the land attached to gurudwaras in Pakistan has caused concern in India,” said ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vishnu Prakash. “Government has conveyed the concerns in this regard to the government of Pakistan, and requested it to look into the matter and take appropriate remedial action,” he added.

As per reports, agricultural land attached to two Sikh shrines within the Lahore cantonment have been sold off by the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after temples and gurudwaras, to the Army for a housing project. This has led to strong protest by the Sikh community in Pakistan which has accused the board of selling the land worth millions at a throwaway price in contravention of existing regulations.

The sale of the 150 acres of land for the military housing project was also taken up in Parliament, with external affairs minister S M Krishna giving an assurance that the matter would be taken up with Pakistan. The SGPC also wrote a letter to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to intervene and stop the sale of land attached to gurudwaras.