New Delhi: The 60-year old Guru Nanak's gurudwara in Baghdad has been damaged in the
recent military hostilities in Iraq, according to information reaching New Delhi.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has taken up the matter with the US seeking
details about the condition of the gurudwara.
Singh has written a letter to the US Ambassador Robert Blackwill, proposing that
former Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry be allowed to visit Iraq for an
assessment of the situation. R S Kalha was also the Indian Ambassador to Iraq during
1992-94.
The present gurudwara was constructed in April 1943 by a Sikh engineers regiment. It
has undergone some renovations and modifications in the succeeding years with the
help of funds from devotees.
It is generally believed that Guru Nanak visited Baghdad while on his way to Mecca
and Medina.
History has it that the place where the Caliph of Baghdad and other Sufi saints met
with Guru Nanak was marked by a gurudwara located at the existing site near the
Baghdad-Samara railway station.
After several decades of obscurity, the gurudwara was discovered in 1917 by a Sikh
engineers regiment. The discovery was announced by Subedar Fateh Singh on May 9,
1918. A tablet in Turkish also marks the spot.
PTI
