ISLAMABAD: The Sikh community in the eastern city of Lahore has been barred from organising a religious ceremony at a disputed gurdwara after a religious group persuaded authorities that celebrating the Muslim holy day of 'Shab-e-Barat' is more important than the Sikh festival. The musical equipment of the Sikhs was thrown out and their entry to the gurdwara barred due to the efforts of the Dawat-e-Islami, a Barelvi proselytising group, a Pakistani newspaper reported on Sunday.

Police were deployed outside the gurdwara to prevent Sikhs from conducting the religious ceremony until after the end of Shab-e-Barat, which falls on Monday.

The Sikh community wanted to commemorate an eighteenth-century saint at the gurdwara on Friday.

Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh at Naulakha Bazaar in Lahore was built to honour the memory of a Sikh saint who was executed in 1745 on the orders of the Mughal governor of Punjab, Zakaria Khan . Every July, Sikhs hold religious ceremonies to commemorate his sacrifice.

Though the gurdwara was taken over by the Evacuee Trust Property Board after Partition, Sikhs were allowed to continue using it with relatively 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 it claims that Kaku died almost 200 years later, in 1477, the daily reported.