Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj on Wednesday wrote to Pakistan’s Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, asking for the protection and preservation of Sikh historical heritage sites in Lahore’s Walled City, particularly Lal Khooh, Kattari Chandu, associated with the martyrdom of fifth Sikh master Guru Arjan Dev.
However, rather than relying on assumptions, he called for an official fact-finding inquiry into the matter. The jathedar suggested that the Pakistan Punjab government immediately conduct an inquiry into the present status of Lal Khooh, Kattari Chandu in Lahore. If any construction or alteration work is underway at the site, stop it immediately until the inquiry is completed. He asked to get the historical and heritage significance of the site examined by experts from the Walled City of Lahore Authority, archaeology department and other departments concerned. He expressed confidence that the Pakistan Punjab government, Walled City of Lahore authority and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee would view the matter from the perspective of heritage preservation.
Due to changing times, urban development, Partition and other historical circumstances, many of these traces had disappeared or were no longer in their original form. Therefore, he said, preservation of the surviving historical remains had become even more important.
In his letter, addressed to the Pakistan’s Punjab CM, copied to provincial minister and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Ramesh Singh Arora, the jathedar said the purpose of the communication was not to level allegations against any government, institution or individual, but to draw attention to Lahore’s shared historical heritage and the important chapters of Sikh history associated with the city. Giani Gargaj said Lahore was not merely a distant or peripheral place in Sikh history, but a land where memories of the Sikh Gurus, sacrifices of Sikh martyrs and numerous chapters of Sikh tradition existed along with their physical historical remains. The jathedar appreciated the Pakistan Punjab government’s initiative of allocating special funds for the conservation and reopening of several historic gurdwaras in the region, but also said that these efforts should be completed in the spirit in which they had been initiated. Giani Gargaj said the issue concerning Lal Khooh, Kattari Chandu, in Lahore’s Walled City had been brought to the attention of the Akal Takht by the Sikh sangat. He said there are concerns regarding construction-related activity around the site, which was a matter of serious concern for Sikhs.
The jathedar said if only a small trace of a historical site survives today, its value should not be measured merely by its physical form but by the historical memory associated with it.
