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Gurdwara of Bhai
Taru Singh Ji now at center of
a ‘grave’ row in Pakistan
WSN Bureau
LAHORE:
Two opposing groups in Pakistan are fighting over who a grave
belongs to – a grandson of Baba Farid Ganj Shakar or a governor of
Lahore – but the Sikhs across the world have different and larger
worries than just the local spat. The grave of contention is located
inside the Gurdwara in Lahore’s Naulakha Bazar, raised in memory of
Bhai Taru Singh, the man whom the Sikhs remember every single day
all over the world as his name figures in the standard Sikh prayer (ardas).
Bhai Taru Singh is an iconic Sikh martyr who was scalped alive with
a hoe during Mughal rule.
Sikhism
prohibits worship of, or at, any grave, and one inside any gurdwara
is unacceptable. But since there are too few members of the
community in Lahore,
the Sikhs seem to have avoided entering into the debate with any
intensity so far.
However, because
of the opposing claims of local groups over the grave, the ‘531st
urs’ (death anniversary) of Pir Shah Kaku held on Thursday at
this ‘shrine’ inside the Naulakha Bazaar Sikh gurdwara happened
despite a ban by the government on the event. This was the first
time ever that such a ban was imposed, the WSN has learnt.
 The
self-appointed gurdwara’s security guard who also doubles up as
caretaker, Yasin, gave final touches to the saint’s urs, and
devotees of Pir Shah Kaku in considerable numbers attended the event
on Thursday, disregarding the disapproval from the Evacuee Trust
Property Board (ETPB) authorities, who say the permission of holding
an urs was never granted.
“Reportedly, the
saint, who died 531 years ago, appeared in a dream of the gurdwara’s
security guard, Yasin, seven months ago (on July 8, 2007).
Yasin claimed that the saint told him about his (the saint’s) grave
being inside the gurdwara. Yasin ‘found’ the grave, piled more sand
on it and decorated it,” local media reports said.
Sohail Butt, the
new caretaker of the ‘grave’, which is now called a ‘shrine’, said
the saint’s believers celebrated the urs for the first time at the
‘shrine’.
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Pak must protect Sikhs’ sentiments
The latest row over urs celebrations inside the
premises of Bhai Taru Singh Ji’s gurdwara has not only
deeply worried the Sikhs but has also perplexed them since
it comes closely on the heels of a step that had actually
won over the hearts of the Sikhs.
Pakistan
government has very recently enacted a law under which Sikhs
can register their marriages, thus giving them a right which
is not available to the community even in India. Both
Muslims and Sikhs are minorities in
India
and often face persecution and discrimination in a paradigm
of governance tempered with hardcore or soft Hindutva,
depending upon whether the centrist Congress or the right
wing Bhartiya Janta Party is in power. Sikhs have often
displayed great regard for Sufi saints and Baba Farid is a
revered figure for the community. In such a matrix, the Sikh
community considers it imperative that the Pakistan
Government acts on its own to protect the Sikh sentiments on
the issue. |
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Sohail claimed
that earlier, people had been holding the saint’s urs at their
homes. He said he had confirmed the authenticity of the saint from
24 books. However, he did not name any book.
He claimed that
Shah Kaku was the grandson of Baba Farid Ganj Shakar, the mentor of
Mian Mir. “The gurdwara once had madrassas of Shah Kaku and Mian Mir
along with Dara Shikoh, who used to attend our mentor’s company,”
Sohail added.
Langar was
served to the devotees. A mehfil (function) was held outside
the gurdwara while women sat inside. (The very terminology of
mehfil being held inside a gurdwara is set to earn the ire of
the Sikhs.) Naulakha Police Station House Officer Raees Ahmad Khan
was quoted as saying that he indeed received directions from the
superintendent of police (security) to protect the ceremony.
Some other
locals of course had a different point of view, and held that the
grave was in fact that of Mir Munnon, the former governor of
Lahore. They
termed the idea of urs celebration as a tactic to take possession of
the precious land of the gurdwara.
The Sikhs have
long been demanding that the
Pakistan
government extend better cooperation to the Sikhs to ensure upkeep
of their properties and religious shrines. The SGPC has been making
such demands but did little else apart from issuing the statements.
In 2006, backed by the cash-rich Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management
Committee (DSGMC), the Sikh community took a gold palanquin to
Pakistan, a major imagination-catching gesture but little was done
to follow it up.
 ETPB Shrine
Additional Secretary Khurram Saddique said the board did not allow
the caretaker of the ‘shrine’ to hold any urs inside the
gurdwara. He said it was to maintain interfaith harmony, as there
had been a tussle between local ‘hooligans’ and the Sikh community
on the issue. He gave a new twist to the row by saying that the
‘shrine’ and the gurdwara of Bhai Taru Singh Ji were situated at the
same place, thus drawing a distinction between the sanctum sanctorum
of the gurdwara and the ‘shrine’ located on the premises.
Bhai Taru
Singh’s gurdwara was in the memory of the man who used to help the
needy and was threatened and harassed by the ruler of that time
because of his human service. He died in 1745. The Sikhs built the
gurdwara to mark the place. Post 1947, it was taken over by the ETPB.
15 February 2008
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