Pakistan: Gurdwara Sahib in Punjab slowly collapsing due to state neglect

The Gurudwara Sahib, an important Sikh shrine located in the Daftu village in Punjab’s Kasur district in Pakistan, is slowly collapsing due to the lack of maintenance and the utterly neglectful attitude of the country’s Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) and the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), the supreme Sikh body in Pakistan.

The front wall of the Gurdwara complex and its ‘Darshani Deori’ – the archway leading to the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum – were already suffering from a lack of maintenance from the state authorities, and collapsed under heavy rainfall in the area on July 23.

The once-glorious Gurudwara holds a key place in Sikh history, as it is considered to be the place where Sufi poet Baba Bulleh Shah took refuge after being banished from his village by the ruling Chaudhris (village chiefs) of Pandoki.

Multiple gurudwaras on the verge of collapse in Pakistan

The Gurudwara Sahib is not the only Sikh shrine in Pakistan which is in ruins, as the historical Gurdwara Rori Sahib in the Jahman village in Lahore, which is close to the border with India, collapsed on July 18. The report by English news outlet Dawn blamed the neglect shown by the state authorities as well as the illegal land occupation in the area for the shrine’s collapse.

Similarly, the Gurdwara Shri Tibba Nanaksar Sahib in the Pakpattan area of Punjab’s Sahiwal district is also on the verge of turning into ruins due to a lack of maintenance. This particular gurudwara is considered to be extremely sacred as this is the shrine where the first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev collected the verses of Baba Farid Ji from Baba Ibrahim Farid Sani, which were later incorporated in Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji.