Pak to print Guru Granth Sahib to prevent desecration during Sikh pilgrimage

Lahore: Pakistan will print Guru Granth Sahib to prevent any desecration of the holy book during Sikh pilgrimage in the country, the top body which looks after minorities' holy places in the Islamic nation said on Monday.

"In order to save Guru Garanth Sahib from any desecration as Sikh pilgrims carry the holy scripture during yatras and had to undergo different checks at the borders, we have decided to print the religious scripture in Pakistan as a service to the Sikh community," Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq told reporters.

India's Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee will be engaged in the printing process, he said.

Farooq said the Pakistan government is also taking steps to export 'Amrat Jal', holy water from a sacred well in Nankana Sahib (the birth place of Baba Guru Nanak) in Nankana Sahib, some 80km from Lahore.

"We have made preparations to export Amrat Jal to India and other countries," he added.

He said the Be Be Nanki well in Nankana Sahib which had been out of order for 70 years, has been restored. "Ownership has been given to yatrees in all matters. I am personally overseeing the arrangements for visiting Hindu and Sikh pilgrims. The number of Hindu and Sikh yatrees is increasing every year and the ETPB has decided to register travel promoters in order to facilitate them and attract more tourism," he said

Renovation work has been started in all Gurdwaras and temples in the country besides a turbine has been installed at Gurdwara Punjah Sahib to generate electricity from water, he said.