Reiterating its demand to scrap the black list of Sikhs living aboard, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) has appealed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene into the auction of the Guru Gobind Singhs rare piece of body armour in the UK.
Amritsar March, 29 : Reiterating its demand to scrap the 'black list' of Sikhs living aboard, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) has appealed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene into the auction of the Guru Gobind Singh's rare piece of body armour in the UK.
On April 9, Sotheby's plans to auction off historic body armour, which may have belonged to the tenth Sikh Guru.
SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar has urged every Indian to stand against the proposed auction of relics of the Guru Gobind Singh.
The auction of Guru's relic should be stopped unless it is verified whether it belonged to him, said Makkar, adding, "If it is proved that the body armour belonged to Guru, then Sikhs would do every thing to bring it back."
SGPC's general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur said the after the news came into being, the organisation was constantly in touch with the religious bodies in the UK and prominent Sikh personalities to stop auctioning.
The UK Government, however, does not want to answer how Sotheby's got the suit of armour.
"I think that is really an area that is an issue for people in India. I don't think I should be commenting on this," Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission Creon Butler had said.
The Prakash Singh Badal Government is into the matter seriously.
"The first and the foremost thing is that authenticity must be established and this thing should be clear that it belongs to Guru Govind Singh. Once the authenticity is established then government is going to have it in whatever way possible," said the Political Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, D S Cheema.
The resolution passed by the SGPC also called upon the Central Government to review the 'black list' that is a compilation of Sikh NRI's names prepared by the Union Home Ministry.
ANI