‘Baseless and fallacious’
DLP REPORT
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan on Thursday described statement of India’s external affairs ministry that Islamabad had transferred the management and maintenance of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), a representative body of Pakistani Sikh, to a non-Sikh body a baseless and fallacious propaganda by New Delhi.
“The malicious propaganda by the Indian Government is simply an attempt to malign the “Peace Corridor” initiative by casting mischievous aspersions against the interests of the Sikh community and to detract attention from India’s own reprehensible human rights violations of minorities in India,” read a statement issued by the foreign office.
The PSGPC remains responsible for carrying out rituals in Gurdwara Sahiban, including Kartarpur as per Sikh Rehat Maryada, the statement said, adding the Project Management Unit (PMU) under the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has simply been created to facilitate the PSGPC in this regard.
“Any insinuations regarding “transferring” the affairs of the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur from the PSGPC to the PMU are not only contrary to the facts but also aimed at creating religious disharmony by the Hindutva-driven BJP government in India,” the FO said.
The Sikh community from all over the world remains greatly appreciative of the efforts made by Pakistan to complete the Kartarpur Corridor project in record time and for the excellent arrangements made to facilitate the pilgrims, the statement read.
“India would be well advised to take steps to protect its minorities and their places of worship, rather than feigning misleading and sham concerns for the rights of minorities elsewhere,” he said.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs lately said that Pakistan had transferred the management and maintenance of Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib from the PSGPC to a “non-Sikh body”.
“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,” the Indian statement said.
