Minorities’ lands being reclaimed, says Arora

LAHORE:Provincial Minister for Minority Affairs and President of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, has stated that following the vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, lands belonging to minority worship places in the province are being reclaimed from illegal occupants.

The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees complete religious freedom and rights to the minorities living in the country. The pond at Gurdwara Babe Di Beri had been under the control of the land mafia for the past 77 years. Before 1947, Sikh yatrees used to bath in this pond before visiting Gurdwara Babe Di Beri. We are thankful to the local leadership, district administration, police, and civil societies for reclaiming the pond from the land mafia.

He said this while speaking to the media during his visit to the pond at Gurdwara Babe Di Beri, Sialkot. Provincial Minister Ramesh Singh Arora said that the Auqaf Department should investigate the leasing of religious worship places. He further mentioned that the recent actions against the land mafia have been welcomed by the Sikh community worldwide and have negated the negative propaganda against Pakistan. He said that the work to restore the pond to its original state will commence immediately.

It is noteworthy that a few days ago, the district administration reclaimed 8 kanals and 18 marlas of land belonging to the pond at Gurdwara Babe Di Beri. On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Sialkot Muhammad Zulqarnain, DPO Hassan Iqbal, Assistant Commissioner Anam Babar, Sevadar Jaskaran Singh, and Coordinator District Peace Committee Hafiz Asghar Ali Cheema were also present.