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Pakistan’s first-ever Sikh police officer Gulab Singh on Tuesday, 10 July, alleged that he was forcibly evicted from his house in Lahore's Dera Chahal by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), the parent body of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), reported ANI.
In a video interview posted on Wednesday, 11 July, he said that the Sikhs in Pakistan did not leave even in 1947 but now they are being forced to do so.
My house is sealed with all the belongings including my slippers inside. Even this ‘patka’ on my head is an old rag which I just wrapped. I was harassed, beaten and my faith was disrespected.Gulab Singh to ANI
In a video message posted on social media on Tuesday, Singh has accused the President of PSGPC, Tara Singh, for singling him out and targeting him.
“They thrashed me, pulled me by my hair and even tossed my turban. If they wanted me to vacate the house, they could have simply sent me a notice,” Singh had said in his video message.
“I am being treated the way goons are treated. And what they (Tara Singh) have done is to please a few people,” Singh added, appealing to the people to take notice of the way Sikhs are being treated in Pakistan.
Singh claimed that his family has been living in the house since the time of Partition.
Gulab Singh Cries Foul
According to a report in The Times of India, in 2016, Singh had levelled charges of corruption against Tara Singh.
Singh alleged that Tara Singh and other Sikh fugitives had collected donations of Rs 10 to Rs 15 crore from the USA, UK and Canada in the name of developing a Bebe Nanki Gurdwara, but hadn’t spent that money.
Singh claimed that after evicting him from his house, ETPB put up a board of “Langar Hall” on his house.
An ETPB official, on condition of anonymity, told The Times of India that they got the Gurdwara Chahal Langar Hall vacated from illegal occupants. However, he didn’t comment on the allegations levelled by Gulab Singh.
(With inputs from ANI and The Times of India.)
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