Govt gives nod to export of Sikh holy water

LAHORE: Pakistani authorities have allowed export of holy water from well at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in the country.

The well has also been made functional for the purpose.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq told a Senate committee that the well had been shaped and a filtration plant had been set up over it so that Sikh devotees could drink the water.

Report also cited Farooq as confirming reopening of three ancient gurdwaras visited by the founder of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak.

“The doors of these gurdwaras – one in Peshawar and two in the Nankana Sahib district – were closed after partition, and now they have been handed over to the Sikh community after renovation,” he said adding, “the most considerable achievement is the opening of the holy well at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. Its water is called Amrit Jal by the Sikhs, and the government has allowed for the water to be exported all over the world.”

The committee was informed that the government is in the process of allowing the printing of the Sikh religious text the Gurugranth Sahib.

It was reported that committee chairman Senator Hafiz Hamdullah asked during the ETPB official’s briefing the reason for closure of gurdwaras and the holy well for years.

However, officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs couldn’t come up with the answer.