Destruction Of Sikh Heritage

[asmlondon]

The proposed bus services from Amritsar to Pakistan is great news but is very likely to be a Trojan Horse for Sikh Heritage in West Punjab. The by-product of the really encouraging news that was reported this morning on the BBC is that it will bring Kar Sevaks to Pakistan.

The Kar Sevaks are determined to "beautify" Sikh shrines in Pakistan that have been largely untouched since Independence. In India after 1947 the Sikhs took control of the important Sikh shrines in Punjab from the British and over a single generation have wiped out virtually all historical monuments and replaced them with modern structures (see www.karsewa.org) . In Pakistan this has not happened to the same extent but the fear amongst conservators, architects and historians is that the same will take place.

I want to illustrate this point with a couple of pictures. These are from within the samadh (funerary monument) of the great Sikh leader Maharaja Ranjit Singh. For 150 years a portion of his ashes (and those of the 11 wives and courtesans that performed Sati on his funeral pyre) were preserved in lotus-flower shaped urns embedded on a marble platform under a beautifully pietre dure canopy in an impressive monument in Lahore. In 1999 in preparation for a visit of Sikh priests from India the Sikh guardians of the shrine whipped off the offending reminders of both the maharajah and his wives. This is just one simple illustration of the devastation that we fear will happen. Please do try to take a look at www.punjabheritage.org which documents many many other cases of neglect, destruction and religious vandalism.

With regards

Amandeep Madra

Image

A picture taken in 1992 of the Samadh of Ranjit Singh which shows the central samadhi built by his son Kharack Singh and completed by Duleep Singh where a portion of the maharajahs ashes were inturned.

A picture taken in 2005 where all the samadhis have been flattened in preparation for a visit of SGPC heads in 1999.

[kurtas]

I think we have some UK members on the Pakistan Gurdwara Prabandakh Committee ?

They should be persuaded to stop these destruction wale baba from be allowed to destroy any Gurdwara in Pakistan. They have done enough damage in India.

I remember a while back these Kar Sewa wale (in collaboration with the Sarna led DSGPC) wanting to "renovate" Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sri Guru Ram Das Jee in Chuna Mandi, Lahore as they claimed it was falling down. This was nothing short of lies. The structure was sound and not falling down. After a bit of noise they relented and gave up on their idea. These people tell lies so they can perform their dodgy tacky renovation jobs.

If the GOI had been doing these "renovations / make overs" we would all be making a big fuss and holding protests to let the world know how our heritage was being destroyed. But because they are self proclaimed "baba" we allow them to get away with anything. It is time a few of these kar sewa wale were given a make over and the truth about the dodgy deals they do be made known to the Sikh Panth. It would be interesting to know what happens to all the cheap rate cement they buy and about alleged kick backs to get "sewa".

Look at all the serai they have built, they are not looked after or cleaned. It is better to sleep in the open than in some of the serai.

Look at the whol fiasco of the gold palqi for Janam Asthan Nanakana Sahib. Again Kar sewa bodgers had a hand in it (it was not all down to Sarna).