By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
New Delhi: The All-India Sikh Conference (Babbar) has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his interference over the illegal occupancy over an erstwhile Gurudwara-Gyan Godri Sahib-in Hari KI Paudi, Haridwar.
The Gurudwara, which was built about 459 years ago, was ransacked and brought down during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Haridwar, at that time, had a small Sikh population who were helpless against this act. Subsequently, shops and others businesses took over the area occupied and ever since, the status quo has been maintained despite protests from Sikh groups. Gurcharan Singh Babbar, President, All India Sikh Conference, told Twocircles.net, “Despite meeting the Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat twice, we have got no support from the state government, which is the reason why we are writing to the PM, hoping that he will pay attention to the matter. The CM has merely given his promises, but nothing concrete has been done in this regard.”
As part of its agitation, AISC said it will organise a special function on November 25 to highlight the case and will attempt to take back the land that rightfully belonged the Gurudwara. “We have been promised that if we stop our agitation, we will be given space somewhere else for a Gurudwara, but there is no way that we will compromise on what was an extremely important spot for Sikhs across the world,” says Babbar. This is a long-standing problem and must be addressed if the state government, and PM Modi, are serious about the plight of Sikhs in the state, he added.