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For the first time since 1947, Pakistan has issued record 7,000 visas to Sikh pilgrims for the Khalsa Foundation Day (Baisakhi) at Nankana Sahib and visit other historical gurdwaras. The pilgrims will enter Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah international border on Thursday. According to the Nehru-Liaquat Pact, a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan on April 8, 1950, about 3,000 Sikh pilgrims are allowed to visit Sikh shrines in Pakistan on four religious occasions — foundation day of Khalsa Panth (Baisakhi), martyrdom day of fifth Sikh master Guru Arjan Dev, death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and birth anniversary of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak.
In recent years although the devotees applied for the 10-day pilgrimage visa in large numbers, the Pakistan government restricted the issuance of visas. This is the first time the Pakistan high commission granted visas to almost all the applicants, nearly double of the agreed number of 3,000. “The government has issued 6,751 visas, granting 3,751 additional visas on the special request of the ministry of religious affairs and the evacuee trust property board,” ETPB additional secretary Saifullah Khokhar said.
Sikh pilgrims from India will arrive in Pakistan on April 10 via Attari-Wagah Border to mark the Khalsa Foundation Day on April 14. Pakistan Punjab’s minister for minorities affairs Ramesh Singh Arora said the government has met the demand of the Indian sangat. Arora who is also president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) said, “The Pakistan government has issued visa with broadmindedness, for which I thank PM Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif, foreign ministry and bureaucracy”.
Arora said a few months back, Maryam Nawaz while addressing a gathering at Kartarpur Sahib had stated that more visas would be granted to pilgrims from India. “And the promise has been delivered. Like the opening of the Kartarpur corridor, this step is also historic.
Prior to this, the Pakistan government announced to facilitate Sikhs from as many as 126 countries including the US, Canada and Britain with free online visas within 30 minutes upon arrival in Pakistan. Whoever wants to come to Pakistan to pay obeisance at gurdwaras is welcome”, he added. Pilgrims surge forces PSGPC to change plans Arora said seeing the huge number of devotees, the PSGPC had to change the plan of the Baisakhi celebrations.
“Earlier, the Indian Sikh jatha took part in the celebrations at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abdal. But, we have limited arrangements there to accommodate such a large number of pilgrims. So, we have planned that the Indian Sikh jatha will celebrate Baisakhi at Nankana Sahib on April 14,” he said.
Arora added that apart from 6.751 Indian pilgrims, over 3,000 pilgrims are coming from other countries. A total of around 15,000 to 20,000 devotees will gather at Gurdwara Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib, he said.
As per the revised programme, the PSGPC and ETPB will welcome Indian pilgrims in two groups. Pilgrims in group one will be taken to Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassan Abdal, while group two pilgrims will be taken to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal. Both the groups will be taken to Nankana Sahib on April 14 for Vaisakhi celebrations.
The festival of Baisakhi will be celebrated at Panja Sahib by local sangat, said Arora. The pilgrims collected their passports from the head office of SGPC on Wednesday. The gurdwara body has made all arrangements to ferry the pilgrims from the Golden Temple to the Attari-Wagah border.
With inputs from PTI.
