Itanagar, May 19: Led by its vice-chairperson Kersi K. Deboo, a two-member team of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) visited Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh’s Shi Yomi district to study a disputed religious site which both Buddhist and Sikhs claim to be their holy place.
On Thursday (May 18), the team held a two-hour long meeting with representatives of the Buddhist Memba community held at Mechuka. The team later 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.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has recently alleged that the historic Neh Pema Shelpu Drupkhang gurdwara has been converted into a Buddhist shrine.
Associated with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the Neh Pema Shelpu Drupkhang shrine is about 14 km from the sub-divisional headquarters at Mechuka.
On the other hand, Neh-Nang Cultural Development Society (NNCDS) President Norbu Tsering Naksang said that they apprised the NCM members and highlighted all related issues.
Based on the SGPC’s claim, the NCM sought a factual report from the Arunachal Pradesh government on April 24.
It has been claimed that the gurdwara, where Guru Nanak had meditated, came up after a Sikh army officer was posted there in the 1980s.
