Police have been deployed outside the temple to prevent the Sikhs from conducting their religious ceremonies until the end of Shab-e-Barat, which falls on July 18 this year. The Sikh community wanted to commemorate an eighteenth-century saint on July 16.

The Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh, in Naulakha Bazaar, Lahore, is built to honour the memory of a Sikh saint who was executed in 1745 on the orders of the Mughal governor of Punjab, Zakaria Khan. Every July, the Sikh community has held religious ceremonies to commemorate his sacrifice in the service of humanity.

While the temple was taken over by the ETPB after Partition, the Sikh community had been allowed to continue using it with relatively few restrictions.

It was then that a gang of young men from the Dawat-e-Islami, a Barelvi proselytising group, claimed that the gurdwara was located on the site of the burial place of a fifteenth century Muslim saint, Pir Shah Kaku. The group claims that Kaku was the grandson of Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar, an implausible claim since Ganjshakar died in 1280, while they claim that Kaku died almost 200 years later, in 1477.

The Sikh community had approached the ETPB, which had then allowed both communities to observe their religious rituals according to their own beliefs at the temple. The group used it every Thursday for prayer services while the Sikh community used it once a year for the anniversary of Taru Singh’s martyrdom.

This year, however, when young men from the Sikh community went in to set up their musical instruments on July 13, they were thrown out by the men from Dawat-e-Islami and prevented from re-entering.

Members of the Sikh community, many of whom fear to be identified, said that the leader of the group of men, Sohail Butt, claimed that the temple was now a mosque and that they would not be allowed to bring in their musical instruments any more.

Butt admitted to preventing the Sikhs from performing their ritual, claiming that the temple was inside the courtyard of the mosque.

“Shab-e-Barat is more important than the Sikh ritual,” Butt said, adding that the ETPB had accepted his group’s stance.

Officials from the ETPB admit that they have asked the Sikh community to postpone their celebrations until after Shab-e-Barat.

4 comments on “Sikh Sangat in Lahore prevented from celebrating Martyrdom of Bhai Taru Singh at Naulakha Bazaar Gurudwara.”

1. भारतीय नागरिक

   July 19, 2011

   

   हम भुलक्कड़ हैं.

   Reply
2. Rama Roy

   July 19, 2011

   

   We should respect the faith of others as a part of Humanity.

   Do we question the World Secularists, why the minority religious groups are always victim of persecution in any Islamic Majority? The Answer is, “Islam believes in force and hatred to eliminate disbelievers”.

   Everywhere Islam tried to finish the Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs in the Islamic history. So Lahore-Karachi in Pakistan, Dhaka-Shylet in Bangladesh, Shah Alam-Selangor in
   Malaysia or Bamiyan of Afghanistan – every places of Islamic hold depict a picture of intolerance over the minority faiths.

   In the Middle East Islamic countries other faiths are not permitted to perform their religion openly. Islam is really a religion of peace and tolerance.

   Mr. Monmohan Singh, a devout Sikh and Prime Minister of India, must look into this matter.

   Reply
3. Surinder Paul Attri

   July 19, 2011

   

   Sub: Prevention from holding celebrationn in a Gurdwara in Lahore

   Indrajit Saluja salujaindra@gmail.com to me, arish

   1. My dear Surinder Ji,

   Please give further information on the incident.

   1. Date when the incident took place

   2. Name of gurdwara where it happened

   3. Name and contact of a responsible representative of Gurdwara

   4 Any other information that you think can help a newspaper in making a credible story.

   Thanks & regards.

   Prof. saluja

   —

   Prof. Indrajit S. Saluja

   Chief Editor, The Indian Panorama

   89-07 Lefferts Boulevard,

   Richmond Hill, NY 11418

   Mailing address:

   P.O. Box No. 190067

   South Richmond Hill, New York 11419

   Phone: 347-632-0001 Fax: 347-960-7211 Cell: 646-247-9458

   2. My Take:

   Prof Saluja Jee: This incident was reported in several Indian Newspapers, on 17 July 2011.

   3. Quote: Date when the incident took place

   COMMENT: Friday, 15 July 2011

   4. Quote: Mane of gurdwara where it happened

   COMMENT: Gurudwara SHAHEED Taru Singh. This Gurudwara is located in the famous Nau-Lakha Bazaar, in the city of Lahore, Pakistan.

   5. Quote: Name and contact of a responsible representative of Gurdwara

   COMMENT: Most Sikhs of Lahore do not want to be identified, for fear of recoil & repercussion, but Sardar Bishon Singh, who is President of Gurudwara Mission of Pakistan, either has or is planning on appealing to Supreme Court Justice, Ifthikar Chaudhary of Pakistan. Mr. Chaudhary is the same guy, who was Fired by the then Paki President, Pervez Musharraf.

   6. Quote: Any other information that you think can help a newspaper in making a credible story.

   COMMENT: Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh, in the Naulakha Bazaar of Lahore, was built to honour the memory of, and as a mark of recognition of the sacrifices of Bhai Taru Singh, who was executed in 1745, on the orders of the Rascal Mughal governor of Punjab, Zakaria Khan.

   After partition, Paki government took over the Gurudwara, and the standing of the Sikh community of Lahore, has been going from bad to worse.

   7. Worse may be in the making. Dawat-E-Islami, a proselytism group of Islam, claims that, this Gurudwara is located on the grave-site, of a fifteenth century Muslim saint, Pir Shah Kaku. They claim that the Gurudwara is Now a Mosque. The BIGOTRY of Dawat-E-Islami always comes through.

   Surinder Paul Attri

   Reply
4. puja

   April 1, 2012

   

   phir v chup baithe hai ham hindu.
   are utho or mita do hmare dharm ke dusmano ko

   Reply