Sikkim High Court did not take up the matter today and the case for possession of the historic Sikkim Gurdwara Gurudongmar has been adjourned to 13 June, 2018, while there seems to be an unwritten embargo to visits of Sikh pilgrims by the local Buddhist population at Lachen.

As the presiding judge was on leave, there were no proceedings in the case today in the Sikkim High Court and the status quo at the Gurdwara Gurudongmar ordered by the Supreme Court of India on 30 August 2017 continues till the case is taken up again on 13 June later this year.

The Singh Sabha Siliguri, Mumbai-based activist lawyer Amritpal Singh Khalsa are petitioners and Delhi-based social activist Ajmer Singh Randhawa is an intervenor in the case. Jagdip Singh from Singh Sabha Siliguri, Chaman Singh, Harjit Singh and Satinder Singh from DSGMC and others from SGPC alongwith petitioner lawyer Amritpal Singh Khalsa and Ajmer Singh Randhawa were present in court today when the matter was to be taken up at the Sikkim High Court.

However reports suggest that though there is an unwritten embargo on the entry of Sikhs into the area near the Gurdwara and though the premises have been sealed, Buddhist Lamas continue to inhabit the region and have made some makeshift shops, adjacent to the Gurdwara Sahib in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court.

Significantly, though the DSGMC and SGPC have been sending delegations at various court proceedings, for unclear reasons, both the bodies have not joined the case either as petitioners or intervenors. Speaking to the media, DSGMC President Manjit Singh G.K. has said, “The Sikkim government is intentionally trying to destroy the history of Guru Nanak’s visit to Gurdwara Gurudongmar Sahib and Sikhs will never tolerate this.”

Though the matter is of serious concern, a high-level delegation of the SGPC or DSGMC has not bothered to take the issue politically with the state government or the Union government. Only lately Member Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal is said to have written a missive to PM Narendra Modi on the subject and sought his intervention.

It is important to mention that Union Minister S. S. Ahluwalia, who represents the Darjeeling constituency seems to be helpless in the issue. Neither on his own volition has he attempted to take up the matter nor has anyone approached him.

“The Sikkim government is intentionally trying to destroy the history of Guru Nanak’s visit to Gurdwara Gurudongmar Sahib and Sikhs will never tolerate this.”

DSGMC President Manjit Singh G.K.

The situation on the ground, under the influence of a section of the Buddhists seems to be deteriorating. In October 2017, when lawyer Amritpal Singh Khalsa attempted to visit the Gurdwara Sahib precincts, with full permission of the state authorities, that too after seeking an order for the same from the Sikkim High Court. When he reached Lachen -the main halt point before he would go further, his driver was brutally beaten up by the locals for “ferrying Sikhs to the disputed site” and the lawyer was threatened.  However the next day, the police provided security to the lawyer and he visited the Gurdwara Sahib to make an on-the-spot study of the place.

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Speaking exclusively to WSN, Amritpal Singh Khalsa said, “It is a long drawn battle and Sikhs have to buck up and doing their homework well.”