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Q.436 Selling of gurudwara land in Pakistan
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 436
TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.02.2010
PROF.(DR.) RANJAN PRASAD YADAV:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government is aware that some land attached to Gurudwaras in Pakistan is being sold with the knowledge of Pakistan Government;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether this issue was taken up by the Indian Government with the Government of Pakistan; and
(d) if so, the response of the Government of Pakistan thereto?
ANSWER THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI S.M. KRISHNA)
(a) to (b) Government is aware of the reported sale of land attached to some Sikh shrines and Gurdwaras in Pakistan.
(c) to (d) The matter was taken up with the Government of Pakistan who denied the veracity of such reports and stated that the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Lahore, under its procedures and with the concurrence of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), exchanged ETPB’s uneconomical agricultural land for more valuable plots. Government of Pakistan also stated that the land exchanged is not attached to any Gurdwara/Samadh and that Pakistan is committed to the protection of minorities.