Condition Of Gurdwaras In Pakistan

[Mehtab Singh]

Gurdwara in Pakistan looted and Koranic graffiti tagged all over it

This used to be a Gurdwara

Another Gurdwara in Pakistan looted and Koranic graffiti tagged all over it

Gurdwara in Pakistan turned into library

[West London Singh]

Mehtab Singh, the area the vast majority of UK Sikhs are originally from : the rural doaba district Jalandhar of Punjab....used to have a distinct muslim majority pre-partition. As such, our villages back home are littered with abandoned mosques and muslim monuments. If you were to see the state of them you would be shocked. If you could see how local Sikhs misuse them you would be shocked. If a muslim could see what kind of un-religious activities many local Sikhs indulge in inside those abandoned mosques they would cry. It would be a dream come true if some good Sikhs would go into those abandoned mosques....pick up the drugs paraphanalia and turn it into something productive like a library.

Moral of the story ? We are not only as bad as them....we're actually ten times worse when it comes to looking after the others abandoned places of worship.

[chatanga]

which are these gurdwaras are these mehtab singh ji?

[gurdssingh]

Many muslim and sikh shrines have been destroyed in sanjha (Shared) Punjab. The "Bharley" (west punjabis) told the "Desi's" / "basindhe" (east punjabis, what is know in india), off the atrocities they faced by muslims and vice versa so both sides destroyed each others shrines after calm had settled after partition. TWO WRONGS DONT MAKE A RIGHT. Muslims/ Sikhs / Hindhus all played a part in this disgusting chapter in Punjabi history Who benefited not the people of the land but the Britsh, as always Washed their hands off the sub continent after raping it for centuries/

It's interesting to note back in the day bharley used to say desian kho ke haiga? They looked down upon us, as they had the newly formed colonies with canal systems, but over half a century later the quality and standard of living is better on this side of the border than that (pakistan), it maybe politics, circumstance or what ever but i think it is the nature and character of the people i.e sikhs, KIRAT karne Back in the day it was sikhs who taimed those barren waste lands, our punjabi muslim brothers should have been much better of than east punjabis as they had all the latest canal systems etc. as a head start. But to this day Punjab State is more prosperous than Punjab province.

[Paneer Monster]

Mehtab Singh, the area the vast majority of UK Sikhs are originally from : the rural doaba district Jalandhar of Punjab....used to have a distinct muslim majority pre-partition. As such, our villages back home are littered with abandoned mosques and muslim monuments. If you were to see the state of them you would be shocked. If you could see how local Sikhs misuse them you would be shocked. If a muslim could see what kind of un-religious activities many local Sikhs indulge in inside those abandoned mosques they would cry. It would be a dream come true if some good Sikhs would go into those abandoned mosques....pick up the drugs paraphanalia and turn it into something productive like a library.

Moral of the story ? We are not only as bad as them....we're actually ten times worse when it comes to looking after the others abandoned places of worship.

Behind our house (evidently located in Jalandhar) there is a small masjid, although it is abandoned, my mums mamma cleans it (in his old age) every friday. Personally, i wouldnt have bothered.....i wouldnt have disrespected the place, but equally i wouldnt have cleaned it weekly for many years. ill make a video next time i visit (in 2 or 3 months) and upload it on to youtube.

when you say 'we are not as bad as them' I do hope you are not speaking on behalf of the Sikhs / punjabis.... further, it is evident to note that we are talking about historical Gurdwarae that are in the Sikh homland of Punjab. I dont think you can compare the woes of the two communities for a number of reasons... one thing many can agree on is Sikhs suffered way more religious and cultural losses then any other community during the partition of india - further we are still paying the price of it today.

I dont think I would be shocked with anything indians do in punjabs masjids.... once you have seen the historical Gurdwaras in pakistan that are literally littered in stool and urine... its very hard to be shocked at anything else. Theres a pakistani shopkeeper who told me as he was growing up he use to play cricket in an abandoned Gurdwara in pak.

having said all this, i have met few decent pakistanis who respect Sikhi and have done darshan of Gurdwara Nanakana Sahib and Gurdwara Panja Sahib.

[Mehtab Singh]

Mehtab Singh, the area the vast majority of UK Sikhs are originally from : the rural doaba district Jalandhar of Punjab....used to have a distinct muslim majority pre-partition. As such, our villages back home are littered with abandoned mosques and muslim monuments. If you were to see the state of them you would be shocked. If you could see how local Sikhs misuse them you would be shocked. If a muslim could see what kind of un-religious activities many local Sikhs indulge in inside those abandoned mosques they would cry. It would be a dream come true if some good Sikhs would go into those abandoned mosques....pick up the drugs paraphanalia and turn it into something productive like a library.

Moral of the story ? We are not only as bad as them....we're actually ten times worse when it comes to looking after the others abandoned places of worship.

Not disputing what you say, but from what I have come across, Sikhs have been re-building such mosques while our Gurdwaras are in the state you can see.

which are these gurdwaras are these mehtab singh ji?

Got these pics from another Singh's account, so not totally sure about the names, although they are in Pakistan. Many years ago www.allaboutsikhs.com had pics of over a 100 such Gurdwaras with their locations as well.

[gurdssingh]

Not disputing what you say, but from what I have come across, Sikhs have been re-building such mosques while our Gurdwaras are in the state you can see.

Which mosques have singhs rebuilt, of course they pay due respect, but which mosques have they rebuilt?

Also remember much more muslims in india (2 nd largest in world population of muslims in india), not many sikhs in pakistan. Maybe thats why the mosques could be in better condition. More people donating for upkeep.

[Mehtab Singh]

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jun/05/sikhs-rebuild-mosque-destroyed-during-1947.htm

[West London Singh]

dont think I would be shocked with anything indians do in punjabs masjids.... once you have seen the historical Gurdwaras in pakistan that are literally littered in stool and urine... its very hard to be shocked at anything else. Theres a pakistani shopkeeper who told me as he was growing up he use to play cricket in an abandoned Gurdwara in pak

Its all relative innit ? What's worse ?.......I mean you can go to a random village in Pakistan Punjab and find stool, urine and the participating of cricket in one of ours. But then you can go to my village in Indian Punjab and find syringes, tin foil and other drugs paraphanalia, condoms, bottles of alcohol and the participating of extra marital affairs in one of theirs. The layman...looking at both objectively, would probably conclude that them turning one of ours into a library for the young is far more civilised and productive than us turning theirs into a drugs den.

At the end of the day of course you will find isolated incidents of the other taking great care of the others buildings. Them probably more so than us, because on their side of the border its not just locals but the government has also used a great deal of public money on the Gurdwaras : the Kiratpur corridor for example.

Its also worth noting that many of the mosques in Indian Punjab have once again began to be used as actual mosques with an increasing local muslim population ....i.e..the muslim Biharis and the increasing number of gujjars now settling down permanently in Punjab and making an extremely good living from the dairy industry.

On the other side.....Who are the locals expected to upkeep the abandoned gurdwaras for ? Just on the off-chance that these people might turn up again one day out of the blue ?

[Mehtab Singh]

On the other side.....Who are the locals expected to upkeep the abandoned gurdwaras for ? Just on the off-chance that these people might turn up again one day out of the blue ?

Sorry but read that part again and ask yourself if it makes any sense at all. So since Muslims visit Punjab, we are expected to maintain the mosques (which Sikhs do anyways), but since Sikhs hardly visit Pakistan (except for Sri Nankana Sahib and Sri Panja Sahib), its no big deal if they desecrate the Gurdwaras??? Lets say tomorrow Sikhs who visit Pakistan want to visit those Gurdwaras. Would you then say that the Pakistanis should have taken better care of the Gurdwaras? I agree that wrong stuff goes on in both cases, but neither one justifies anything. Just because they desecrate the Gurdwaras doesn't mean Sikhs should do the same to the mosques, and vice versa.

What Paneer Monster said is also true. Sikhs lost the most during the carnage of 1947. Lets not forget the most important thing, several of the Gurdwaras that are in Pakistan are the ones where our Guru Sahibaan have physically been present in the past. The mosques in Punjab are not the ones which Hazrat Muhammad Sahib visited. Not saying whats more important, just trying to let you compare the difference in the significance of our historic Gurdwaras versus random (yet worth respecting) mosques. There are enough abandoned mosques in other parts of India which Muslims themselves are not bothered about. However, it pains the hearts of Sikhs to see the condition of the Gurdwaras which Guru Sahibaan themselves set foot in. In the case of Muslims its just another mosque, and since they have millions around the globe, its not an issue if one is in ruins and abandoned. Its not the same for us. We also have thousands of Gurdwaras worldwide, but the ones attached to the memories of our Gurus are a lot more closer to our hearts and souls, and it pinches us deeply to see their condition.

The next question would be "How and what do we do about it then?", which is a totally new and different discussion altogether as it will involved the authorities in Pakistan as well.