Pakistan trust sells Sikh shrine land

The authorities in Pakistan have sold over 500 kanals of agricultural land attached to two Sikh gurdwaras to the defence housing authority (DHA) in violation of rules.

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), according to reports, has overturned its rules while handing over to DHA 544 kanals (one kanal = .125 acres) attached to Sikh shrines — Samadh Bhai Maan Singh and Gurdwara Deh — in Lidhar, a village in Lahore Cantonment.

Rules governing the ETPB prevent it from selling land attached to a place of worship and religious shrines unless it is determined as “uneconomic”.

Sources said the land was attached to the shrines with the purpose that the produce from it would be spent on maintenance. The recent move to convert it into residential plots has distorted the purpose.

The trust has finalised the deal against the promise that it will in return get free, developed residential plots measuring one-fourth of the land. The market price of the property is about Rs655 million.

Siddique Khurram, a senior ETPB official, confirmed the deal and added that the ETPB had initially offered the land attached to Gurdwara Bebe Nanki (established at the birthplace of Guru Nanak’s sister) at Dera Chahal village but withdrew it after the Sikh community in India and North America protested. 

Under the Evacuee Trust Property Board Management and Disposal Act, the ETPB’s function is to develop agriculture land to increase productivity and enhance the commercial value of the property. The ETPB is not vested with the power to convert such land for residential blocks, opponents of the move argue.