India on Thursday has slammed the move of the Pakistan government as they transferred the management and maintenance of the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body.
Earlier, the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSGPC), a body run by the minority Sikh Community, used to run the administrative activities of the shrine.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today called upon Pakistan "to reverse its arbitrary decision depriving the Sikh minority community its right to manage the affairs of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib."
Notably, Kartarpur Sahib was opened last year for Sikh devotees to visit the shrine without a visa via a ‘corridor’ from Dera Baba Nanak in India.
"This unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly condemnable and runs against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as also the religious sentiments of the Sikh community at large," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
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It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan's decision has drawn sharp reactions from the Sikh community across India and has expressed grave concern at this decision of Pakistan.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said he had sought time from the MEA to get and lodge a formal protest to the Government of Pakistan.
The MEA statement said: "Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and its leadership’s tall claims of preserving and protecting the rights and welfare of the religious minority communities."