Exposed: 22 Guru Granth Sahib Saroops Kept at a Warehouse in London, UK

:dateline:This past week on September 3rd, some prominent members of the local sangat received a telephone call regarding 22 Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib Ji that were being stored in a commercial warehouse (trading as a company called Trimex UK Ltd) �in Feltham, West London. �Further investigation by local Sangat revealed that 400 Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib Ji were collected from UK and sent to India in 2007. �These saroops were claimed to be�birdh�(too old to be read). �Following the same pattern, another ‘initiating’ is being taken in the UK to collect older saroops and ship them to India for saskar.

It was learned that the plan was to collect hundred saroops from around the UK and ship them off to India to a place known as Mai Bhago Centre in Dehradun, India. �Once again, the Saroops were all being deemed as birdh, so they should be sent for Agan Bhayt Seva (cremation). The owners of the warehouse and various committee members of the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Sahib in Southall were actively responsible for the original 400 Saroops that were sent to India in 2007.

After the 400 Saroops were shipped to India in 2007, a consortium of Panthik elders (ranging from Gurdwara Sahib Committee leaders and representatives of various Jathebandis) held a series of meetings with the people responsible and sternly reprimanded them. It was agreed that such major actions regarding so many Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji leaving the UK could never be taken by a few individuals but must be first addressed by the whole of the Sikh Community in the UK. Especially at a time when hundreds of Saroops are being shipped into the UK once again by private individuals who claim that there is a very big shortage of Saroops in the UK.

Unfortunately, even on this occasion, the owners of the aforementioned warehouse and various committee members of Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Sahib are at the forefront of these 22 (perhaps more) Saroops being collected and stored.

At around 6:30 PM, the majority of the Sangat accompanied by a full reporting team from the Sikh Channel, started arriving at the warehouse. The son of the owner advised the Sangat that the Saroops were no longer there and had been taken to Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Sahib. Three members of the Sangat that arrived around 6:15 PM stated that they had seen a van and a car pulling away quite speedily with about 4 people inside with a Chaur Sahib, just as they arrived at the warehouse.

Members of the Sangat then requested that the Sikh Channel team should be allowed access to the room where the Saroops were originally kept.� However, the owner’s son flatly refused all requests, citing that the sangat had to wait for his father to arrive from Southall (a journey of approximately 15 minutes). The Sangat patiently waited for 45 minutes but there was still no sign of his father. The Sangat then demanded that the Sikh Channel team be given access. After much deliberation this was then given.

The Sikh Channel Team were shown to a double sized room which contained a Manji Sahib all ready for Maharaj and a cot sized bunk bed, however there were no Saroops present.� Due to the fact that the cot sized bunk beds would have been extremely too small for 22 Saroops and also the question as to why the Saroops� were in the warehouse, it was decided that the Sangat should wait there� for the owner to arrive and address the Sangat’s concerns.

Whilst the Sangat were peacefully waiting, the owner’s son called the police to remove the Sangat, citing that the warehouse was private property. The Sangat at this time were feeling very oppressed as the police were being very uncooperative. Elders amongst the Sangat communicated with the police and got the son to arrange for a direct phone conversation with the warehouse owner. In this call, the owner invited the Sangat to come to Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Sahib saying� that all 22 Saroops were now there and himself and the Committee would� happily answer all the Sangat’s questions.

Upon arriving at Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Sahib, it seemed that there were very few people there (Maharaj’s Sukhasan had happened) and when asked, nobody seemed to know anything regarding the 22 Saroops. Members of the Sangat accompanied by the Sikh Channel Team then proceeded to have Darshan of Guru Ji’s Sachkhand hoping the 22 Saroops would be there, but this was not so. The owner was not picking up his calls and there was nobody present at the Gurdwara Sahib who knew about the Saroops.

The Sangat at this point were feeling very agitated. One Singh managed to get the telephone number of the Gurdwawra President, Harpal Singh. One of the elders in the Sangat then proceeded to call him. In that conversation, Harpal Singh informed the Sangat exactly where the Saroops were in the Gurdwara Sahib (there was a very small room above the Sachkhand). He was then questioned about the whole scenario involving not only these 22 Saroops but also the previous times Saroops were stored in the same warehouse and then sent to India involving the same Gurdwara Sahib.

He very openly and honestly gave the whole story about how Sevadaars collect birdh Saroops in the hundreds from around the country, stored them in the warehouse and the Gurdwara Sahib, and then sent them to India for Saskar (cremation). He went on to say that Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Sahib was currently in the process of building an Anghita Sahib (cremation place) in Southall, so that they could do the Saskar Seva here. He apologized that as he was away, he could not meet the Sangat but reassured them that members of the Commitee would meet the Sangat� the next morning.

As members of the Sangat had Darshan of the small room where the 22 Saroops were, it was a big shock to see how the Saroops were kept in a room so small that it would be impossible for even one person to sleep in. The passageway leading to the room was severely packed, the door was tightly shut and there were no fans. It felt very hot and stuffy due to a lack of air.

The Sangat’s first reaction was that Maharaj could not stay here, however as it was now 10:30 PM, it was decided that the door should be kept open and fans be brought in to make the conditions slightly better at least until Amritvela the next day. Five Singhs from the Sangat volunteered to stay with Maharaj throughout the night as all other members of the Sangat were instructed to go home. It was agreed that although the conditions in which the 22 Saroops were being kept were very wrong, the first thing to do was the Darshan of each Saroop at Amritvela to see how birdh (old) they really were.

At approximately 4:15 AM the next day (Wednesday, September 4^th), over 20 members of the Sangat (including the vice president of Guru Nanak Darbar, Dr. T S Wadhwa and several other members of the commitee) were blessed with the� blessed darshan of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The saroop that was done parkash of first, was perfect in all ways. Witnesses said that it was impossible to even think this Saroop could have been �considered as birdh. Dr Wadhwa (the vice president) was present and totally agreed that this Saroop was perfect. They even questioned the� Granthi Singhs as to who had Darshan of this Saroop and deemed the� Saroop to be birdh, to which there were only confusing looks as answers.

This Seva then continued for all the other Saroops, each and every one of them was far from being considered birdh�and only� fit for Saskar (cremation). A few of the Saroops were in need of seva of the angs, something that is currently performed by Singhs in Havelock Rd Gurdwara Sahib.

It� was then decided by the sangat and amicably agreed (with Guru Nanak Darbar committee) that it would be best that the saroops should be placed in the Sachkhand at Havelock Rd Gurdwara where there would be enough space for the Seva to take place. Two Saroops were also taken to Guru Amar Dass Gurdwara Sahib as they were needed for daily Prakash and as they were in such good condition that this would be possible.

Some video recordings of the incident are available below –