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Sikh shrine escapes war ravages
Shyam Bhatia in Baghdad exclusively for rediff.com |
April 15, 2003 09:11 IST
Two shells from an American tank narrowly missed a shrine dedicated to Guru Nanak in the suburbs of north Baghdad last week.
The spent shells are lying 10 metres away from the shrine, founded in memory of Guru Nanak's visit to Baghdad, en route to Mecca, in 1520.
Although the shrine is intact, the force of the two blasts has shattered the windows overlooking a courtyard dedicated to a famous Shia, Sheikh Bahloul, who was befriended by Imam Ali Ibn Mousa several hundred years ago.
"Then to Baghdad did Baba Nanak go and outside the city made his abode," says an inscription on the wall, erected on the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak on November 23, 1969.
The caretaker of the shrine, Mohammed Abdul Razak, 40, says he was not present when US forces in the area were battling loyalists of Saddam Hussein last Saturday.
"Neighbours told me afterwards what happened," Razak told rediff.com
"I'm glad I was not here. If you go outside you can still see the tank treads on the road."
Besides the inscription, a portrait of Guru Nanak and a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, the shrine has a picture of the Golden Temple and a small cupboard with a portrait of Guru Gobind Singh.
Razak says members of the Indian community were regular Friday morning visitors to the shrine until the war started. Since then nobody has come.
The Indian embassy and the ambassador's residence, a short distance away by car, have fared slightly better.
Last week armed men raided the Rafidain Bank on the same street as the chancery and the ambassador's residence.
Hadi Saleh, 40, the son of the caretaker, told rediff.com: "They came here as well, but we soon got rid of them.
"They were all thieves. One of them stood outside and wanted to talk to me. I told him, 'I don't know you.'"
Rediff.com Senior Editor Shyam Bhatia is the co-author of Saddam's Bomb, on Iraq's search for nuclear weapons
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Number of User Comments: 8
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Sub: sikh gurudwara in baghdad
i am from kuwait and during the iraqi invasion we had come to iraq to leave for india and that time we got the previledge ...
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Posted by veenu
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Sub: God
just a note. people talk about God and then they talk of 'unblessings'. how can one who believes in God speak of unblessings unto others? ...
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Posted by lakhvir
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Sub: American tank narrowly missed a shrine dedicated to Guru Nanak
It would have been a sad day indeed if the shrine had been hit, has anyone got photos of this shrine?
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Posted by Satvinder
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Sub: escape of shrine of guru
i am happy to read that guru nanak's escaped shrine visited by on 1520,but sad to know the all surrounding city is destroyed.this is bad ...
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Posted by gurjinder singh minhas
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Sub: RE:MAY GOD UNBLESS AMERICA
True the Americans never realise the impact of war ..all they want to prove is that they are the Superpower in the world. Let GWB ...
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Posted by Pad
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