Amritsar: Over a century-old Gurdwara Singh Sabha, located near Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad, Pakistan, was allegedly demolished by miscreants during the intervening night of June 24 and 25.Bhupinder Singh, a Sikh representative from Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, accused the authorities of turning a blind eye to the incident and appealed to Punjab, Pakistan, chief minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif to take cognisance of the matter and ensure appropriate legal action.In a video message shared on social media on Monday, Bhupinder claimed that the 125-year-old Gurdwara Singh Sabha was demolished between the 8th and 9th night of Muharram.Gurdwara Singh Sabha holds significance as one of the key centres from where the Singh Sabha Movement gained momentum. The movement, which began in Amritsar in 1873 and was formally established in Lahore in 1879, played a pivotal role in the revival of Sikh religious and cultural identity.Prominent Sikh scholars and leaders, including Baba Khem Singh Bedi, Sardar Thakur Singh Sandhawalia, Giani Gian Singh, Prof Gurmukh Singh, Giani Ditt Singh, and Prof Kahn Singh Nabha, made significant contributions to the movement.Bhupinder said the region played a vital role in the movement to liberate Sikh gurdwaras from the control of mahants. During the campaign to free Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, volunteers reportedly marched from Gurdwara Singh Sabha to Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, and the Singh Sabha Movement eventually laid the foundation for the establishment of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), he added.Expressing anguish over the incident, Bhupinder said that the historic shrine, along with its inscriptions and heritage markers, had been reduced to rubble. He also alleged that no govt department or public authority had issued a formal statement regarding the demolition, nor had any FIR been registered against those responsible.Bhupinder claimed that this was not an isolated incident. He alleged that earlier Gurdwara Chobacha Sahib in Dharampura, associated with the Sixth Sikh Guru, had also been demolished without any meaningful action by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).People raising concerns regarding the ETPB’s functioning are labelled as anti-national, he said, adding that they had appealed to Maryam Nawaz to look into the incident.
