Chandigarh, Nov 5 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and request the Pakistan government to restore the management of the Sri Kartarpur Sahib shrine to the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC).
He also demanded scrapping the nine-member project management unit established under the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to manage the shrine.
Requesting the Prime Minister to take up this issue with his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan urgently, the SAD President also requested that the External Affairs ministry also be tasked with the responsibility to restore the status quo of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur at the earliest.
Stating that the Pakistan government's decision to establish a project management unit comprising non-Sikhs had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community worldwide, Badal said this also against the 'maryada' associated with Sikh shrines.
"The Sikh community is viewing this decision as a direct attack on the religious rights of the Sikh community of Punjab. It is for the first time that the management of a Sikh shrine has been taken out of the purview of the PSGPC and handed over to the ETPB."
Badal also condemned the logic being put out by the Pakistan establishment that this decision was needed to rake in financial returns from the 'project'.
( With inputs from IANS )
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