SGPC opposes move to shift varsity from Nankana Sahib
: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has opposed the Pakistan-based Evacuee Trust Property Board’s decision to scrap its original plan of establishing Baba Guru Nanak University (BGNU) at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of first Sikh master, Guru Nanak.
The board has now decided to establish the main campus of the university in Islamabad and subcampuses in other provinces.
A Pakistani daily “International The News” quotes sources in the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) as saying: “The main hurdle in setting up the university in Nankana Sahib has come from the legal fraternity, besides local tenants who have been occupying the ETPB land. The ETPB even offered them alternative land for agriculture and other purposes, but they rejected the offer.”
Taking note of the development, SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar said the university should be established at the birthplace of Guru Nanak.
“If it is set up at any other place, it will lose its relevance and will be heartbreaking for the Sikhs worldwide,” he said.
“The Pakistan government should ensure that the main campus of the university be set up at Nankana Sahib to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in 2018,” said Badungar.
The gurdwara management committee will send a delegation to Pakistan that will meet the government representatives and members of the ETPB to make sure that the campus is not shifted to Islamabad, said Badungar, adding that they will also approach the Centre to take up the matter with the Pakistani government.”
Speaking to Hindustan Times over phone, Ramesh Singh Arora, the first Sikh member of the Pakistani Punjab assembly, said: “Being a Sikh, I also want the university to be established in Nankana Sahib, but its main campus has been shifted to prevent any land dispute.
However, a section of people belonging to the Muslim community, who earlier opposed setting up of the campus in Nankana Sahib, have started realising that it would be big economical loss for them too.”