Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reacted to the reports about Pakistan transferring management and maintenance of Gurudwara Kartarpur to a non-Sikh body, saying that if they have done it then it should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
"If they have done it, then, it should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. As representatives of the Gurudwara Prabandhan Committee, they have been removed and members of ISI have been put," said Puri on Thursday.
This comes as the Pakistan government transferred the management and maintenance of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib away from the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSGPC), a body run by the minority Sikh Community, to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETBP), a non-Sikh body.
Earlier on Thursday, India objected to Pakistan's "unilateral decision" to transfer the management and maintenance of Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara to a non-Sikh body, stating that it is highly condemnable and is against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs called upon the Pakistan government to reverse its arbitrary decision to deprive the Sikh minority community of the right to manage affairs of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of the Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev.
The move by Pakistan's government comes days ahead of the first anniversary of the inauguration of the historic Kartarpur Corridor on November 9. The four-km long corridor links Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur in India to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.
( With inputs from ANI )
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