Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 8

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has been snubbed by the state Archaeology Department for allegedly tampering with Diwan Todar Mal’s historic Jahaz Haveli in Fatehgarh Sahib.

The site, a protected monument, is of immense historical importance for Sikhs as Todar Mal had sold his house (known as Jahaz Haveli) to buy a small piece of land for the last rites of Guru Gobind Singh’s two sons who were martyred by the Nawab of Sirhind.

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 the 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.

Last month a team of the Archaeology Department was shocked to see the construction in full swing around the monument. On July 20, the Director, Archaeology, shot off a letter to the SGPC manager and asked him to stop the work immediately as it amounted to tampering with the protected monument. The rule 29 (2) of the Act prohibits any construction in 100 metre from the protected monument.

Karnail Singh Panjoli, member of executive committee of the SGPC from Fatehgarh Sahib, under whose supervision the work was being carried out, confirmed that they had stopped the work. “The construction wing of SGPC is following up the matter with the department,” he said.

Historical importance