By IANS
Chandigarh : A descendant of Sai Hazrat Mian Mir, a Muslim Sufi saint from Lahore in Pakistan who laid the foundation stone of the holiest of Sikh shrines – ‘Harmandar Sahib’ (Golden Temple) – demanded that area in the one-kilometre radius of the shrine should be declared a holy zone.
Sai Makhdoom Syed Chan Pir Qadri, the 19th descendant of Mian Mir, called on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Tuesday, and demanded that shops selling meat, wine and tobacco should be banned in the one-kilometre holy zone around the shrine in view of the sanctity of the shrine.
Qadri was here on a visit from Pakistan.
Qadri showed a few belongings of the fifth Sikh guru – Arjan Dev – to Badal. These included a prayer beads, a necklace and another necklace belonging to the guru’s wife.
He also demanded the setting up of a visa office at Amritsar to facilitate people wanting to visit shrines and other places in Pakistan.
Mian Mir had laid the foundation stone of the Sikh shrine in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in 1588. The shrine, under the supervision of guru Arjan Dev, was completed in 1604. Mughal emperor Akbar donated the land for the shrine in 1574.