CHANDIGARH, Punjab—Latest developments reveal that the Congress led Punjab government is going to reopen the historic Bassi Pathana jail where the ninth Sikh master Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji remained imprisoned for four months. The move has spread a wave of shock among the Sikh masses as a Gurdwara Sahib was expected to be built there.
SAD (Taksali) leader Bir Devinder Singh has said that he had furnished historical evidence proving the incarceration of the ninth Sikh Guru by the Mughals in the Bassi Pathana jail. Following which the Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh had promised the SGPC in 2017 of building a Gurdwara Sahib there.
“I got shocked when I read the news about reopening of Bassi Pathana jail in a mainstream media paper in which it was mentioned that a memorial would be built for the ninth Sikh master Guru Teg Bahadur Ji,” he added.
“The Sikhs will definitely do anything to resist the Punjab government’s move of reopening Bassi Pathana jail,” he said while suggesting the Punjab Government to hand over the possession of the ancient jail to the SGPC for constructing Gurdwara Nauvi Patshahi with the help of the Sikhs.
SAD (Amritsar) general secretary Amrik Singh Ballowal has said that the historic Sikh places are being demolished and suppressed under a highly deliberated policy. “We will lodge a protest against the Punjab government’s move in coming days,” he added.
We Sikhs have destroyed lots of history by building gurdwaras on historical places.
Building a Gurdwara there is a ridiculous way to preserve the jail as a heritage site. The Jail should be restored and preserved and then opened as a Museum, that’s a true testament to our Guru’s history rather than just another Gurdwara. I suspect that the Gurdwara construction will also negatively impact the jail as a heritage site.