Civic body records show existence of Gyan Godri Gurdwara in Haridwar

SIKH BODIES CLAIM THAT A GURDWARA, ASSOCIATED WITH GURU NANAK NEAR HARKIPAURI, WAS DEMOLISHED IN 197879. THE SPACE IS NOW OCCUPIED BY SCOUTS AND GUIDES

HARIDWAR: Sikh organisations’ demand for handing over a building of Bharat Scouts and Guides at Subash Ghat near Har-ki-pauri to them gained momentum after the civic body settlement record has shown existence of a gurdwara in the place.

With Sikhs staging indefinite protest for the past 345 days near Prem Nagar ashram on the banks of Ganga Canal, demanding handing over of the building for the construction of Gyan Godri Gurdwara, the district magistrate directed officials to search civic records.

“The municipal corporation record of 1935 depicts existence of a gurdwara near Har-kipauri. Also, documents procured from Bharat Scouts and Guides office also relate to a gurdwara at the site. This and related information will be submitted to committee set up by the state government,” said Deepak Rawat, who is also secretary of the newly formed committee.

Meanwhile, the Gurdwara Gyan Godri Managing Committee has urged the district administration and the state government to handover the site to it for the construction of a Sikh shrine. “We have been claiming for this site as Guru Nanak had visited Har-ki-pauri, where he meditated and gave sermons in 1504-05,” said Sardar Harjeet Singh, president of the Gurdwara Gyan Godri Managing Committee.

“It’s a matter of religious and spiritual attachment for the Sikh community and also for people of Uttarakhand as Guru Nanak had meditated in this holy Himalayan land. Apart from Hemkunt Sahib in Chamoli, Guru Nanak had also meditated at this site on banks of Ganga,” he said.

Some of the Sikh representatives are also of the view that if the said site at Har-ki-pauri is not allocated to them for the gurdwara construction, then the site where currently sit-in agitation is being staged near Prem Nagar ashram on NH-58 should be given to them for the construction of the shrine.

Anup Singh Sidhu of the Gurdwara Nirman Sangarsh Samiti said that symbolically Bharat Scouts and Guides building should be made a religious place of importance, while at the agitation spot, the administration should allocate them land for construction of a grand gurdwara.

Bharat Scouts and Guides said that if need be, they will take legal route, saying no representation of their organisations itself points to the bias of the state government.

The secretary Bharat Scouts and Guides said: “members of the Sikh organisation have been inducted in the committee, while no representation has been made from the Bharat Scouts and Guides. We oppose the construction or handing over of this site for the gurdwara construction,” he said.