Imran Khan Govt Wrests Control Of Kartarpur Gurudwara From Sikh body; India condemns move

The Pakistan government has transferred the control of Gurudwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Punjab from the top Sikh body to a government body Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).

New Delhi: Pakistan government has taken full control of the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Punjab province's Narowal district. According to media reports, the Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee has lost management rights of the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib to the Imran Khan government which has given it to the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB). ETPB is a government agency that manages the properties left behind by Hindus and Sikhs who migrated to India after partition. India has condemned the move and said in an official statement "This unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly condemnable and runs against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as also the religious sentiments of the Sikh community at large." The statement also said, "Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and its leadership's tall claims of preserving and protecting the rights and welfare of the religious minority communities." MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also shared the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement.

Our statement on reports about Pakistan transferring the management and maintenance of the Holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib pic.twitter.com/82S7we2P2y

— Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) November 5, 2020

The gurudwara is considered to be the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of Sikhism. He had spent the last 18 years of his life in Kartarpur. The move comes close to when the gurudwara was preparing to celebrate the first anniversary on November 9. Earlier this year the registration for Kartarpur Sahib is temporarily suspended due to a coronavirus pandemic.