UK--Only recently Sikhs were devastated knowing that Bow Gurdwara in East London had been burnt down and Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's pavitar saroops had been reduced to ash in the fire. Sadly, in the past few days there have been two more Gurdwara fires in the UK.
Aftermath of the Manchester Gurdwara fire
On Wednesday 6th May at 11.30pm, Gurdwara Sri Guru HarKrishan Sahib Ji in Greater Manchester caught fire. The ground floor offices and the first floor (the Langar Hall) of the Gurdwara Sahib were destroyed. An investigation is under way but the fire is not thought to be suspicious. Thankfully, with Guru jee's kirpaa, the Darbaar Sahib and Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's saroops were left untouched by the fire.
Scene from the Doncaster Gurdwara fire
Coincidentally the next day, a Gurdwara Sahib in Doncaster caught fire after a large quantity of plastic pallets went up in flames at the trading estate where the Gurdwara in situated. The fire-fighters spent two hours tackling the blaze and are treating the incident as suspicious.
It is thought the blaze started after a number of plastic loading pallets belonging to the Big Red Shed specialist distributors company were set alight in an area between the Gurdwara Sahib and another building. So far there have been no reports whether the Darbaar Sahib and Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee's saroops have been affected by the fire or not.
Hearing this sad news, it should be a wakeup call for the Sikh community to rethink about the safety and protection of our Gurdwara Sahibs. What fire precautions are in place at our local Gurdwara Sahibs?
These tragic incidents can be avoided with forward-thinking and planning.
