LAHORE (APP) – Preparations were underway to start export of Amrat Jal – water from a well in Nankana Sahib held sacred by Sikh community, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq told the APP on Sunday.
He said the ETPB was also making arrangements for printing Guru Garanth Sahib, holy scripture of the community, in the country.
Farooq said the first initiative he had taken as the board chairman was to restore the Be Be Nanki well in Nankana Sahib. He said the board would soon start bottling and exporting water from the holy well.
Farooq said the decision to print the Guru Garanth Sahib had been taken to facilitate Sikh yatrees visiting the country from abroad. He said they would no longer need to bring the book with them.
He said yatrees had to pass various check-points set up for security reasons at their arrival in the country and during travel inside the country. “There is a possibility that the holy book may get desecrated during the journey,” he said.
He said that with the printing and availability of the book at gurdwaras and other holy sites the community would not need to carry it during the journey. Assistance would be sought from the Sharomani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), India, and the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee for printing, he said.
The ETPB chairman said the number of pilgrims from foreign countries on Sikh and Hindu religious occasions was increasing every year. The ETPB had decided to register travel agents to facilitate these visitors.
Farooq said the ETPB had undertaken several initiatives to promote infrastructure at religious sites of minority communities. He said construction of a residential complex and installation of a water treatment plant was underway at the Katas Raj temple. He said work on the two projects would be completed before the arrival of Hindu pilgrims in November.
Farooq said renovation work had been started at all gurdwaras and mandirs in the country. He said the board was installing a turbine at Gurdwara Punjah Sahib, Hassan Abdal, to generate electricity from water.
The ETPB chairman said the foundation stone of the International Guru Nanak University, Nankana Sahib, would be laid on the occasion of Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary on November 14. He said an advisory committee had been formed to oversee the establishment of Gandhara University, Taxila.
Farooq said his mission was to present Pakistan as a country that cared for its minority communities.
He said he had started the practice of holding donation drives in presence of bank representatives to ensure transparency. He said the representatives issue receipts to the donors on their own and the amount was deposited directly in the bank account of the board.
Farooq said the ETPB had 600 security guards across the country. He said 80 of them would be equipped with weapons after security clearance and screening by a clinical psychologist.
He said these guards would receive training from police officers.
The ETPB chairman said the board was considering a proposal to construct a multi-storey plaza on a property it owned in prime commercial zone in Lahore.
