Kartarpur Gurdwara land in Pakistan encroached, India demands early restoration

Pakistan has allowed rampant encroachment on the lands belonging to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Nalowal district of its Punjab Province, prompting India to demand early restoration of these lands to the shrine, government sources said on Friday, March 15.

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These lands, donated to the Gurdwara by Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and other eminent Sikh devotees over a period of time, have also been acquired by the government of Pakistan, the sources said. India has protested against the impropriety of arbitrarily depriving the Gurdwara of its legal possessions, in utter disregard to the sentiments of the devotees of Shri Guru Nanak Dev in India, they said.

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Strong demand has been made by the Indian side for early restoration of these lands to the Gurdwara, keeping in view the strong sentiments on the issue among devotees in India. The revelation comes at a time when the two countries have initiated talks to operationalise a dedicated corridor to allow Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurdwara.

The first meeting between the two sides was held at Attari in Gurdaspur district of Indian Punjab yesterday during which issues like finalisation of the draft agreement between the two countries for facilitating smooth and easy access to Corridor Kartarpur Sahib to the visiting Indian pilgrims were discussed.