5,800 Sikh pilgrims reach Pakistan for Baisakhi
Nearly 5,800 Sikh pilgrims from India crossed over to Pakistan on Thursday to celebrate Khalsa Foundation Day, or Baisakhi, through the Attari-Wagah border, officials said. They said the pilgrims were accorded a warm welcome by Pakistan authorities and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (PSGPC).
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) group of pilgrims, who were seen off by officials from the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, is led by SGPC members Jang Bahadar Singh, Joginder Kaur and Ravinder Singh Khalsa. The groups of other organisations are led by Tarlochan Singh (Khalra Mission Committee) and Daljit Singh (Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee), among others.
Upon reaching Pakistan, the jatha was welcomed by Pakistan Punjab’s minister for minorities affairs and PSGMC president Ramesh Singh Arora and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) additional secretary Saifullah Khokhar, among others.
After clearing immigration and customs, an Indian group from Wagah left for Gurdwara Sri Panja Sahib (Hasan Abdal) in special buses under heavy security and the other group left for Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Narowal district.
For the first time since 1947, Pakistan issued a record 6,751 visas to Sikh pilgrims from India for visiting historical gurdwaras.
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 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.
SGPC chief thanks Pak envoy
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday wrote a letter to Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi Saad Ahmed Warraich, thanking him for granting the visas.
In the letter, the SGPC president said that it is a matter of happiness that all 1,942 pilgrims whose names were sent by the gurdwara body were issued visas.
