SIKHS IN LAHORE BARRED FROM CELEBRATING FESTIVAL

The Sikh community in the eastern city of Lahore has been barred from organising a religious function at a disputed gurdwara after a religious group persuaded the authorities that celebrating the Muslim holy day of Shab-e-Barat was more important than the Sikh festival.

The musical equipment of the Sikhs was thrown out and their entry into the gurdwara barred due to the efforts of the Dawat-e-Islami, a Barelvi proselytising group. The police was deployed outside the gurdwara to prevent the Sikhs from holding a religious function until after the end of Shab-e-Barat, which falls tomorrow. Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh at Naulakha Bazaar in Lahore was built in memory of a Sikh saint who was executed in 1745 on the orders of the Mughal Governor of Punjab, Zakaria Khan.

Every July, Sikhs have held a religious ceremony to commemorate his sacrifice. Though the gudwara was taken over by the Evacuee Trust Property Board after Partition, Sikhs were allowed to continue using it with few restrictions. Four years ago, the Dawat-e-Islami claimed the gurdwara was located on the site of the grave of a 15th century Muslim saint, Pir Shah Kaku. The group claimed Kaku was the grandson of Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar, an "implausible” claim since Ganjshakar died in 1280 while Kaku died almost 200 years later in 1477, the daily reported.
SRC.http://www.punjabmailonline.com/Punjab%20News_news2.aspx#51599

Baisakhi At Gurdwara Punja Sahib.(Lahore)

More than 1,400 Indian and 8,000 Pakistan Sikh yatrees (pilgrims) attended the three-day Baisakhi Festival that concluded here on Thursday at the Gurdwara Punja Sahib.

The festival is celebrated throughout the world, but Sikh pilgrims from the world over flock to Pakistan to visit the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak, at Nankana Sahib near Lahore. Hassanabdal is also religiously significant for Sikhs because it was where their last human Guru, Guru Govind SinghMaharaj, settled.

To mark the celebrations, devotees throng gurdawaras. They start celebrations early, with flowers and offerings in their hands and proceed towards gurdwaras before dawn.

Baisakhi is widely celebrated by Sikhs in Punjab, with festivities centred on the Panja Sahib complex in Hassanabdal, numerous shrines in Nankana Sahib, and at various historical sites in Lahore.

Baisakhi, an ancient festival dating back to the seventeenth century, also marks the beginning of a new solar year and harvest season.

It is one of the most significant holidays in the Sikh calendar, commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

Furthermore, local Muslims and Hindus also attend the celebrations. Men and women in vibrant garbs retell the legends of Baisakhi.