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.
I am a PAK and i am very pleased to read this news. This is what REAL JIHAD in ISLAM i.e to make an effort in the way of GOD for PEOPLE. Some extremist elements in PAK and INDIA dont want people to come close and live in PEACE but salute to people like Khurshid Khan for this love for humanity.
God bless him.
Hey Munib are u Stupid, this man is Polishing shows in the Temple of India for Hindus………..are you out of your mind, Islam teaches you this thing, He can do the same work in any Masjid of Pakistan…………..We have to Condemn that instead of appreciation.
Yes ISLAM teaches me this . . . but i guess the Islam you follow teaches bombing mosques, blasting schools and killing innocent children and women and terrorizing hinduz and minorities and forcing them for conversions and the list goes ON.
Why he do same work in a Masjid in PAK ? ye jo islam or PAK ke thekedar bane bethey hain , ye ghas khane ke liye bethey hain ? Ask them to do it . Majority of all the mosques in PAK are on occupied land and illegal. Pehle zara ja ker unko legal karo or phir en moviun se kaho ki wo ye kaam karain.
Islam was spread in SOUTH ASIA by great sufiz who loved hinduz christians and other as much as they loved their own muslims. Thats why even today all over south asia hinduz go to the mazar of these sufiz, not like terrorist jihadi mullahz jin ki shakal bhi dekhna bi pasand nahi kerte dunia wale.
Does the fact that they are hindus make them any less human? If he is doing something to debunk the myth that all muslims are terrorists, who are you to tell him he is wrong? Ghulam Ghouse, stop being an ignorant hate monger. The man is doing a good deed.
Yes, he is doing the right job. Peace brothers Peace !
It seems odd but the message is big and clear.
I could not agree with you more. We need more voices like yours. Let us live and let live.
salute to Khursheed khan..
A praiseworthy work by Khurshid Khan.There is someone at least to wash the scars left on our national character by the terrorists called Taliban.
IT is a back door diplomacy. A sikh/hindu will perform similar act in Shahi Masjid ,Lahore. Any objection ? Poverty is multiplying on both sides of the borders.
What the man is doing shows two possibilities. He is either a lunatic or an Indian agent. May be that the Hindus want to get terrorists from the Sikh community and start terrorists in Pakistan. The agencies in Pakistan may be advised to question him and find out what his intentions are and what links he has with the Hindus of India,
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