India takes up Guru Granth Sahib issue with Qatar, saroop returned

A day after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed concern over the confiscation of two holy saroops (copies) of Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib in Doha, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Friday that India has raised the issue with Qatar and is working to ensure their respectful return.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared on X: “We have seen reports regarding Guru Granth Sahib copies seized by the Qatari authorities and the demand for their release by the Sikh community. The government has already taken up the matter with Qatar and our embassy has kept the Sikh community in Doha abreast of developments in this regard.”

Jaiswal said one copy of Guru Granth Sahib has been returned, while efforts are on to secure the release of the second.

On Thursday, SGPC president Dhami had sought the intervention of external affairs minister S Jaishankar and the Indian ambassador to Qatar for the release of the two holy ‘saroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib that had been confiscated by the police in Doha.

“Keeping the ‘saroops’ confiscated at a police station is a disrespect that cannot be tolerated. This matter was recently brought to the notice of the Akal Takht Jathedar by UK-based Bhai Kanhaiya Humanitarian Aid following which the SGPC pursued the matter,” Dhami said.

The Bhai Kanhaiya Humanitarian Aid found that a Sikh man was arrested by Doha police in Qatar in December last year. He was later released, but the two ‘saroops’ taken from him are still kept at Al Wakara police station by the Doha police. Dhami said that the Sikh man had been practising the Sikh faith privately along with local community members at a gurdwara established in his private property at Birkat Al-Awamer without any public display due to strict restrictions of Qatar government on the non-Islamic faiths’ public worship. Dhami sought the release of the ‘saroops’ and their reinstallation on the same premises.