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90 Sikh pilgrims returning from Nanded stopped in Indore, Akal Takht seeks govt intervention
Pilgrims are among 2,500 from Punjab stranded at Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded, in Maharashtra for a month amid Covid-19 lockdown; they were trying to return home by road.
Taking umbrage at the stopping of Punjab-based Sikh pilgrims in Indore, Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Saturday asked the Centre and the Punjab government to ensure their return.
The pilgrims had been stranded at Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded, in Maharashtra for at least a month amid the lockdown and were trying to return home by road.
“I have learnt that 90 pilgrims returning from Takht Sri Hazur Sahib have been stopped on the outskirts of Indore in Madhya Pradesh. They are stranded there and in trouble. Since the administration has made no arrangements for them, the pilgrims are struggling with hunger and facing a tough time,” Giani Harpreet Singh said in a statement here.
He said the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada and Malaysia had taken back their citizens from India through special flights. “So, it’s the moral responsibility of the Indian government to ensure that people stuck at different places due to the countrywide lockdown, returned to their homes on priority,” said the head of the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.
WANTS PASSES FOR THE STRANDED
He demanded that the Centre and the Punjab government issue passes to the sangat stuck in Indore and that concrete steps should be taken to bring back thousands of pilgrims stranded at Nanded.
Nearly 2,500 pilgrims, mostly from Punjab, are stranded at Takht Hazoor Sahib, one of the five Sikh temporal seats.
A few days ago, some pilgrims had attempted to return to Punjab by road, but the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments did not let them enter their states.
The shrine’s management board also raised their plight but in vain.
SGPC CHIEF WRITES TO AMIT SHAH
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal on Saturday wrote a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah requesting him to ensure homecoming of the pilgrims stranded at Nanded. He said the letter has also been marked to Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray. He said the SGPC is ready to cooperate the government in this matter and send its vehicles to ferry them.
