Sikhs press for gurudwara where ‘Nanak meditated’
HARIDWAR:A section of Sikh community has pressed for the construction of Guru Gyan Godri Gurudwara at the disputed site near Subash Ghat of Har-KiPauri in Haridwar district.
Guru Gyan Godri Sangarsh Samiti and Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Dharm Prachar Samiti have separately demanded from state government allocation of the disputed site near Subash Ghat, where currently the Uttaranchal Bharat Scouts and Guide regional office is situated.
According to these organisations, at this site decades ago there used to exist a gurudwara,which was built to commemorate the stay, meditation and sermon by Guru Nanak Dev way back in early 16th century.
Sikhs under the Guru Gyan Godri committee have been staging protest near Prem Nagar ashram, adjacent to Ganga Canal on NH-58,with many demanding that the agitation spot be given for Guru Gyan Godri Gurudwara; rendition of sermons has been taking place on a regular basis at this site for the past two years.
Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Dharm Prachar Samiti president Satyapal Singh Chauhan has urged the state government to allocate the building to Sikhs so that it paves way for construction of a grand gurudwara as it is related to religious-spiritual sentiments of the Sikh community.
“Guru Nanak Dev had around 1504-07 meditated and preached sermons on the banks of Ganga near Har-Ki-Pauri. It is of immense religious-spiritual and historical importance for not only Sikhs but all the devotees who arrive at Har-Ki-Pauri. We want this very site to be handed over to Sikhs so that a gurudwara can be reconstructed at this very holy place,” said Satyapal.
While some Sikh representatives and people are of the view that if the site at Har-ki-Pauri is not allocated for Gyan Godri Gurudwara construction, then another suitable site as for the gurudwara be allocated by the state government on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar.
Urban development minister Madan Kaushik said CM Trivendra Singh Rawat had said that the government is willing to resolve the Gyan Godri Gurudwara issue but all the stakeholders need to arrive at a consensus first.