Islamabad, Aug 3 (IANS) The dilapidated grave of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s queen, Maharani Moran, is not only a monument neglected by the local authorities but demonstrates the broader crisis being faced by Sikh heritage in Pakistan for decades. Decaying walls, overgrown vegetation and years of neglect raises question on whether Pakistan is really committed to preserving Sikh history and heritage as it showcases itself on the global stage, a report has detailed.
Maharani Moran died in 1867, and her grave is located in Miani Sahib Cemetery in Lahore. However, its worsening condition demonstrates the situation of several Sikh monuments in Pakistan which have historical significance.
Many sites related to Sikh history, including places linked to the Sikh Gurus, the Sikh empire, and the legendary Sikh warriors who sacrificed their lives defending faith, human rights, and their nation, are located in Pakistan. Over 400 historic Sikh gurdwaras linked to the lives of Guru Nanak Dev and the other Sikh Gurus are located in Pakistan presently. However, many of these historic sites have either disappeared or have been left in ruins in Pakistan’s provinces like Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a report in Khalsa Vox mentioned.
Pakistan frequently describes Gurdwara Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur as examples of its commitment to preserving Sikh heritage. However, it has become difficult to hide the reality in the present time as each year Pakistani Sikh leaders raise funds from the global Sikh diaspora for maintaining gurdwaras in Pakistan while the condition of several unpopular historic sites continues to worsen.
“The memories of great Sikh warriors such as Hari Singh Nalwa, Akali Phula Singh, Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala, and many others remain rooted in this land. Unfortunately, many monuments associated with them have fallen victim to neglect, encroachments, illegal construction, and the natural decay of time,” the report said.
In June, 125-year-old Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib in Pakistan’s Farooqabad was demolished and a large part of the historic shrine was reduced to a rubble after a local businessman allegedly carried out demolition work without legal clearance or court order. Authorities acknowledged the demolition only after Sikh residents of Farooqabad took to the streets to protest the incident.
“For the Sikh community of Farooqabad, the night of June 24 was not an abstraction. It was the sound of machinery tearing into a building their grandparents’ grandparents had prayed in — a gurdwara built over a century ago, when the Singh Sabha movement was still reshaping what it meant to be Sikh in a modernising Punjab,” another report in Khalsa Vox had mentioned.
By morning, portions of the gurdwara were left in rubble after it was demolished by a local businessman who did not take legal clearance or a court order to take the action.
“What happened next says everything about what it costs, in Pakistan today, to be a religious minority guarding your own history. It wasn’t the heritage department that stopped the bulldozers. It wasn’t the Evacuee Trust Property Board, the very institution created to protect Sikh religious property. It was ordinary Sikh residents of Farooqabad who had to pour into the streets — who had to make noise, take risks, and force a confrontation with indifference — before anyone in authority even acknowledged that a 125-year-old shrine was being erased,” the report mentioned.
An official later admitted that the department failed to take notice of the demolition until local Sikhs protested. It added that the Pakistani authorities responded only after a minority community, long burdened by institutional neglect, was forced to stand up and defend its heritage.
–IANS
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