Historic Gurdwara Reopens in Lahore; CM Mann Gets Pakistan Event Invite

November

2026

Gurdwara Chhevin Patshahi Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib on Temple Road, Lahore has reopened for the first time after the Partition of India in 1947. Pakistan’s Panjab Minorities Minister, Ramesh Singh Arora, who also heads the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, said restoration work was completed and the shrine was open for worship. Additionally, a 49-member group of Pakistani Sikhs, who arrived in India to visit historic Sikh shrines, paid obeisance at the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and met the apex Sikh management body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami. The group returned to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route on 5 Nov after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) granted special permission for their return, following intervention by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. MHA allowed the devotees, hailing from Peshawar, Panja Sahib, Lahore, and Nankana Sahib, to cross into Pakistan through the Attari Integrated Check Post. Concurrently, Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he has received an invitation to attend the World Punjabi Conference, scheduled to be held in Lahore on 27 Nov. He expressed concern on whether the Indian government would allow the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to travel, as in the past few years the union government had stopped him from visiting some European countries and lately to Japan. Pakistan said it would consider issuing a visa to CM Mann if he wished to visit the country. Furthermore, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has flagged attacks on Gurdwaras in India and urged the US government to press New Delhi to hold perpetrators of such violence accountable. Though the USCIRF social media post does not provide details, recent attacks have targeted individuals near or in Gurdwaras. On 27 Oct, the son of an AAP village council head and brother of a party leader, Tirath Singh, was shot dead near a Gurdwara in Chite Kalan village, Amritsar district. On 28 Oct, two masked men on a motorcycle entered Gurdwara Manji Sahib in Rajoana Kalan village, Ludhiana district, and fired shots towards the room of the head sewadar (volunteer), Baba Baldev Singh. The police arrested 42-year-old Raj Singh alias Raju. On 3 Nov, Raj died in prison, which his family has called a custodial death due to torture (earlier coverage).