National Commission for Minorities (NCM) team visits disputed religious site in Arunachal Pradesh

ITANAGAR: A two-member team of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) led by its vice chairperson, Kersi K. Deboo, visited Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh’s Shi Yomi district to examine a disputed religious site that both Buddhists and Sikhs claim to be their holy place.

Shi Yomi district officials said on Friday that Beboo, along with NCM member Rinchen Lhamo, held a two-hour-long meeting with representatives of the Buddhist Memba community in Mechuka on Thursday and visited the Neh Pema Shelpu Drupkhang, a cave revered by the local Buddhist Memba community. No representative from the Sikh community, however, attended the meeting, officials said. Neh-Nang Cultural Development Society (NNCDS) President Norbu Tsering Naksang said that they apprised the NCM members and highlighted all related issues.

The NNCDS represents the Memba community, which has lived in large areas of the Shi-Yomi district for centuries. “We have placed the issues arising out of mixing a gurudwara with our historical site, Neh Pema Shelpu Drupkhang, where Rinpoche Padmasambhava meditated,” Naksang told the media on Friday. Noting that a peaceful solution to the issue is required, he said that they are expecting an appropriate decision from the NCM.

Associated with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the Neh Pema Shelpu Drupkhang shrine is about 14 km from the sub-divisional headquarters in Mechuka. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has recently alleged that the historic Neh Pema Shelpu Drupkhang gurdwara has been converted into a Buddhist shrine. The matter drew attention after Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu visited the shrine and shared pictures on his Facebook page on April 8. Based on the SGPC’s claim, the NCM sought a factual report from the Arunachal Pradesh government on April 24.

Some people claimed that the gurdwara, where Guru Nanak had meditated, came up after a Sikh army officer was posted there in the 1980s. The locals also pointed out that the Army looks after the gurdwara, as no Sikhs have ever settled in the area to take care of it. (IANS)

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