A man in a maroon kurta polishing the shoes of devotees at a room in Delhi’s Gurdwara Rakabganj was actually Pakistan’s deputy attorney general, Indian media reported on Monday.
It’s a common sight in Gurdwaras, except that this man was Pakistan’s deputy attorney general, Muhammad Khurshid Khan, who had requested he be allowed to perform seva (community service) at the shrine.
Khan, 62, is an eminent lawyer and a devout Muslim from Peshawar. He was in Delhi for a judicial conference. “I have been more keen on visiting various places of worship here to promote harmony between India and Pakistan,” Khan said.
Khan’s tryst with temples and gurdwaras began in 2010 to “heal the wounds of minorities in Pakistan by becoming their sevadar (performer of service)”. For him, it was a “penance” for crimes committed by the Taliban.
In February that year, the Taliban had kidnapped three Sikhs from Peshawar and demanded a $235,000 ransom. Pakistan Army rescued two of them, but the third, Jaspal Singh, was beheaded by the captors. After the killing, Khan performed service at a gurdwara in Peshawar. “I seek harmony among all religions,” says Khan, citing Pakistan’s pluralistic heritage.
“I am a Muslim, not a terrorist; I am a Khan, not a terrorist; I am from Pakistan, but not a terrorist.” This is Pakistani deputy attorney general Muhammad Khurshid Khan’s humble submission as he visits gurdwaras across New Delhi and performs seva (community service).
The Taliban, he said, had plundered Pakistan’s pluralistic heritage. “But I want to tell the world it’s unfair to tarnish a whole community for the sins of a few.” In Delhi for a conference, Khan, accompanied by Surinder Singh, a Delhi based businessman whose father was a comrade of Subhas Chandra Bose, has polished shoes at Gurdwara Sisganj and visited Birla Temple and Hanuman Mandir.
Khan told TOI that he turned to other faiths after the Taliban beheaded a Sikh, Jaspal Singh, in Peshawar in February 2010. “When I visited the house of Jaspal, I was filled with remorse.” The killing weighed on his conscience. He was perturbed that violence in the name of Islam brought a bad name not only to Muslims and Pakistan but also to his people, the Pashtuns.
The next day, he went to Gurudwara Bhai Joga Singh in Peshawar and sat on the steps. He could hear the chants wafting out of the shrine. “I felt peace,” he says. The lawyer started reading about Guru Nanak and approached a member of the gurdwara management committee to allow him the opportunity for seva. After discussions, the gurdwara management committee allowed to perform seva.
“For two months, I went to the gurdwara daily before the maghrib azaan (call to prayer at sunset) and polished shoes of devotees. “Sevadari is ibaadat (worship),” he said.
In Delhi, Khan also went to Jantar Mantar in the hope of meeting Anna. He sent his visiting card and waited for close to an hour but could not meet Anna. But he left the place “charmed”. “It is amazing. This is democracy,” he said.
On his way back to Pakistan, he will visit the Golden Temple at Amritsar for the ‘Jora Ghar Seva’ (polishing shoes of devotees). He had written to PM Manmohan Singh last year to allow him a chance to perform seva at Amritsar. “I am yet to get a reply,” he said.