Sewage Water Was found in Gurdwara Panja Sahib Sarovar,Hassan Abadal, Pakistan

                               Zulfiqar Hussain Bukhari

Officials of Pakistan’s Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) were embarrassed when Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special assistant Zulfiqar Hussain Bukhari found sewage in the holy pond of Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abadal, on Sunday 13th September.

Bhukhari took strong exception to the gross negligence on the part of the ETPB. The board, also known as the parent body of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), claims to have done extensive development work on Hindu and Sikh shrines left in Pakistan after partition in 1947.

In this case, ETPB officials refused to comment on how the pond water was contaminated. ETPB public relations officer Aamir Hashmi told TOI that Zulfi directed the local administration to provide all possible support to overcome the problems.

“He was briefed about the issues faced by tourists , including diversion of the  from the gurdwara, improving the link road and possible construction of a star category hotel,” said Hashmi.

On September 9, Zulfi held a meeting with ETPB officials in Islamabad, where the board proposed to introduce religious tourism packages for Sikh and Hindu devotees from across the world.

Sources said a group of Sikh businessmen from the US, UK, Canada and other international destinations were likely to visit Pakistan to explore the possibility of investing in Sikh religious tourism infrastructure in Pakistan.

Zulfi’s visit to Gurdwara Panja Sahib is being seen as an attempt to monitor preparations made by ETPB and to prevent any awkward situation during the Sikh entrepreneurs’ visit to Pakistan, sources said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/check-finds-sewage-in-gurdwara-panja-sahib-sarovar/articleshow/78095978.cms

Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi