Chandigarh, August 5
Questioning the intentions of the Union government, Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha Member from Punjab , wanted to know why it has failed to run an exclusive ‘Gurudwara Circuit train’ for Sikhs, which was announced almost a year ago. The train which was meant for pilgrims to visit important Sikh shrines in the country is still not a reality.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced in September 2021, that ‘Gurdwara Circuit Train’ would be started, to take Sikhs on a tour of the Sikh holy places such as different Takhts of Sikhism, like the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, Sri Hazur Sahib and Gurdwara Patna Sahib in the country.
“As almost a year has elapsed, and no work is done to start the train, it shows the “anti-Sikh and anti-Punjab” mindset of the BJP-led union government,” Chadha said while demanding that the government should immediately start this scheme.
Raghav Chadha said that the Sikh Sangat had wholeheartedly welcomed this announcement by the centre government and had high expectations from the proposed project. But sadly, it has not seen the light of the day as no framework has been drawn up to implement it till now.
Drawing the attention of the BJP government to the sentiments and hopes of the Sikh community, the AAP MP urged the railway minister in the Rajya Sabha today, to provide a time frame for the information of the Sikh devotees, so that they can plan their pilgrimages.