It was at Mangat village in Pakistan that the Guru Granth Sahib, the scripture of the Sikh faith was first replicated from its original. In its pages, the verses of Sufis, Hindu Saints and the Sikh Gurus symbolize the interfaith universality of humanity!

Mangat, once a predominantly Sikh village, after the partition of 1947 experienced an influx of migrant Muslim community from India, who having lost their homes elsewhere, made it their new habitat.

Unfortunately, the spectacular building of the Mangat Gurdwara was left abandoned for decades. With the villagers using it as a temporary school, it was again abandoned when the building started falling apart owing to sheer negligence. Today, it stands in dire peril of collapse and needs urgent restoration.

As I was preparing to leave Mangat, my eyes noticed the reflection of the gurdwara dome in the window of a shop! Its reflection symbolized an imprisonment of this jewel of Mangat!

I was reminded of Baba Bullhe Shah’s verse that proclaims “I can’t be imprisoned anywhere!” Indeed, the universality of humanity that the Mangat Gurdwara stood for is beyond shackles, even though the unfortunate madness of history may have awarded it an isolation for life!

Mein Beqaid Mein Beqaid
Na Rogi Na Waid
Na Mein Momin Na Main Kafir
Na Saidi Na Said
Chodhwin Tabqeen Seer Asada
Kittey Na Hoiye Qaid
Kharabat Main Jaal Asadi
Na Shobha Na Qaid
Bullah Shah Di Zaat Keh Puchna Ain
Na Paida Na Paid

I am beyond limits and restrictions
I am not a patient, nor a doctor
I am not a believer, nor an unbeliever
I am not the hunter, nor the prayer
I travel through the fourteen spheres of the universe
I CAN’T BE IMPRISONED ANYWHERE
My life is passed in intoxication
I am given no honour and no blame
Why ask Bullha what is he like?
For he was neither created nor is created

Photographed in Oct 2014, during the research for the book “LOST HERITAGE The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan”