:dateline:The apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhik Committee, which has been demolishing the historic Sikh structures and monuments, has finally come under the scanner of Punjab Archaeology Department. It is learnt that the Archaeology Department has snubbed the SGPC for constructing rooms inside Diwan Todar Mal�s historic Jahaz Haveli in Fatehgarh Sahib.
It is noteworthy here that this Jahaz Haveli holds an extreme historic importance for the Sikh community as Todar Mall had sold this Haveli to buy a small piece of land for performing the last rites of Chhote Sahibzaade Baba Jorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh.
Sources have informed that the Archaeology Department got shocked when they saw the ongoing construction work around this Haveli.
It is learnt that the Director of Archaeology Department also shot off a letter to the SGPC asking it to stop the work immediately as it amounted to tampering with the protected monument. The rule 29 (2) of the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1964, prohibits any construction in 100 meter from the protected monument.
The structure was declared protected in the 1980s under the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1964, but the state�s Department of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums did not acquire the land. Its ownership remained with private individuals for decades. It raised many eyebrows when Mohali-based Punjab Virasat Charitable Trust purchased the land along with the monument in 2007. The trust was being run by the family of the former Director, Department of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa.
The SGPC got this land from the trust in 2008. However, all these years the building kept on lying without much conservation work. A few years ago, instead of conserving the structure which has been crumbling, the SGPC first constructed a room inside the compound. It recently laid foundation of another structure comprising three rooms, which doesn�t gel with the historic structure.
