E-Paper
SGPC chief hopes Centre will allow Sikh jatha to Pakistan for Gurpurb
Amid travel curbs post-Pahalgam terror attack, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami says tradition to send Sikh pilgrims to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak, on his Parkash Gurpurb in November can’t be discontinued.
Amid the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that led to Operation Sindoor, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday said that the SGPC would be approaching the Union government for permission to send a Sikh jatha (group of pilgrims) to the neighbouring country for celebrating the Parkash Gurpurb (birth anniversary) of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak on November 5.
Speaking over the phone, Dhami said, “Sending jathas to gurdwaras in Pakistan on historic occasions is a tradition. We cannot discontinue it. Sikh sentiments are attached to this pilgrimage. Parkash Gurpurb of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji is the most sacred and pious occasion for Sikhs.”
The SGPC did not send a jatha to Pakistan to commemorate the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh on June 29 due to travel instructions after the terror attack.
“For the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the pilgrims had got visas from Pakistan. When we asked the Union government, we were advised not to send the jatha. However, now we are hopeful. By November, there may be cordial relations between both the countries. If pilgrims get the Pakistani visa for a visit in November and the travel restriction is not lifted, we will urge the Centre to allow the pilgrimage,” Dhami said.
Initiating the process, the SGPC on Thursday asked the aspiring pilgrims to deposit their passports at its office in Amritsar, so that Pakistan visas could be secured for them.
SGPC secretary Partap Singh said those keen on visiting Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib and other historic Sikh religious places in Pakistan must submit their passports along with a recommendation from the area SGPC member to the committee’s pilgrimage department by August 4.
According to the bilateral agreement between both countries on April 8, 1950, Sikh pilgrims can visit gurdwaras in Pakistan on four religious occasions, the foundation day of Khalsa Panth (Baisakhi), martyrdom anniversary of the fifth Sikh Master, Guru Arjan Dev, the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak.
After the Pakistan-sponsored Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead on April 22, India debarred its citizens from going to the neighbouring country through the Attari-Wagah border checkpost and asked Pakistan nationals to leave after suspending all visas with exemptions. In retaliation, Pakistan suspended all visas under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) issued to Indian nationals, with the exception of Sikh pilgrims.
Days before the Pahalgam attack, 5,800 Indian Sikh pilgrims had visited Pakistan gurdwaras on Baisakhi. This was the largest number of Sikh pilgrims to have visited Pakistan so far.
