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Pak Sufi body shifts 110-yr-old ‘Sikhi saroops’ to gurdwara

One of the holy saroops of Guru Granth Sahib being handed over to a granthi of Gurdwara Baba Di Beri in Sialkot. FACEBOOK
Press Trust of India

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Lahore : After 90 years of safekeeping, a Sufi organisation in Pakistan has transferred over 110-year-old copies of rare Sikh manuscripts to the administration of a gurdwara in Sialkot in Punjab province to strengthen Muslim-Sikh brotherhood, according to a media report.

The ancient ‘Sikhi saroop’, which had remained in the possession of a Sufi family in Gujrat in Pakistan’s Punjab province, has now been handed over to the administration of Gurdwara Baba Di Beri in Sialkot by local Sufi organisation Mitr Sanjh Punjab.

The two manuscripts of Guru Granth Sahib had long been in the safekeeping of Pir Syed Munir Naqshbandi, a revered Sufi elder from a village of Gujrat, the Sufi organisation’s head, Iftikhar Warraich Kalravi, told The Express Tribune.

Known to be an advocate for interfaith harmony, Naqshbandi had offered asylum at his residence to a few Sikh families trying to escape ethnic violence before partition, the daily said.

“Apart from sheltering some Sikh families, he had also salvaged some of their religious scriptures and kept them from being desecrated. Among them were the two manuscripts of Guru Granth Sahib.

“When the Sufi elder passed away in the year 1950, he had left the scriptures in the safekeeping of his children and since then they have remained with the family,” said Kakravi.

The 500-year-old Baba Di Beri Gurdwara in Sialkot, about 140 km from Lahore, last year in July opened its doors for Indian Sikh pilgrims. According to the Sikh tradition, when Guru Nanak — the founder of Sikhism — arrived in Sialkot from Kashmir in the 16th century, he stayed under a beri tree. Sardar Natha Singh then built a gurdwara in his remembrance at the site.