For the first time since Partition, there is a glimmer of hope that the 300-year-old Gurdwara Bhai Biba Singh in Peshawar, Pakistan, would be opened to Sikhs from India.
After opening the gurdwara, Evacuee Trust Property Board chairman Siddiq-ul-Farooq informed TOI over the phone that the gurdwara would be opened to Indian Sikhs only if India offers to open new Muslim pilgrimage spots to Pakistani Muslims, as identified in the 1974 Pilgrim Protocol signed between the two nations. “We have carried out massive renovation work of Gurdwara Bhai Biba Singh and would be pleased if Sikhs from India visit the shrine and pay obeisance,” he said.
Situated in Peshawar’s Jogiwara locality, the 300-year-old gurdwara is considered to be an architectural masterpiece and is said to have been established at the time of the 10th Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, who died in 1708. However, with most Sikh families moving away from Jogiwara after Partition, the gurdwara was neglected for 66 years. In 2012 ETPB, a body corporated under Pakistan’s ministry of religious affairs and inter-faith harmony, began restoring the gurdwara.
Though Pakistani Sikhs are allowed to enter, it has been closed to members of the community from India. Situated in Peshawar’s Jogiwara locality, the 300-year-old Gurdwara Bhai Biba Singh is considered to be an architectural masterpiece and is said to have been established at the time of the 10th Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, who died in 1708. However, with most Sikh families moving away from Jogiwara after the Partition, the gurdwara had been neglected for 66 years. It was in 2012 that ETPB, a body corporated under Pakistan’s ministry of religious affairs and inter-faith harmony, began restoring the gurdwara.
PTIofficial : RT JavedAzizKhan: Gurdwara Bhai Biba Singh in #Peshawar reopened after 64 ye… pic.twitter.com/9m0B4rQehs pic.twitter.com/2PpHdujVJS
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