India’s foreign ministry statement on gurdwara demolition called interference in Pakistan’s affairs

ISLAMABAD: India’s Ministry of External Affairs has condemned the alleged demolition of the 125-year-old Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sahib in Farooqabad and alleged that religious minorities in Pakistan are being continuously targeted. The statement has been described as open interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs and a reflection of India’s hypocrisy.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the Punjab government took immediate action over the incident, which took place between 24 and 26 June 2026, and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered an inquiry. Provincial Minister for Minority Affairs Ramesh Singh Arora visited the site. Directions were also issued for the complete restoration of the gurdwara.

Pakistan remains committed to protecting all places of worship.

Claims about India

The statement said India should first look at its own record. During Operation Blue Star in 1984 and in the anti-Sikh riots that followed, several gurdwaras across India were destroyed or badly damaged.

According to the statement, the historic Guru Nanak Tapasthan Gurdwara at Menchukha in Arunachal Pradesh was forcibly converted into a Buddhist monastery in 2023 under political orders, and the Guru Granth Sahib was removed from it. Several Sikh religious sites in Haridwar, Puri (Odisha), Uttarakhand and other areas faced demolition or desecration.

The statement claimed that about 700 people lost their lives to police violence and despair during the Sikh farmers’ movement of 2020-21, and that more than 400,000 farmers in India have taken their own lives since 1995.

It said Pakistan is actively working to protect and restore its 1,817 minority religious sites, dozens of which have been repaired and restored in recent years, while India continues to persecute minorities in a systematic manner.

According to the statement, the propaganda of India’s Ministry of External Affairs cannot hide its atrocities. India should stop interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs and answer for its treatment of the Sikh community.