Sikh jatha returns from Pak after 10-day visit to Nankana Sahib, other shrines

The Sikh jatha returned from Pakistan after 10 days via Attari-Wagah border on Thursday after attending the celebrations of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary at Nankana Sahib and visiting other historic gurdwaras

The Sikh jatha returned from Pakistan after 10 days via Attari-Wagah border on Thursday after attending the celebrations of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary at Nankana Sahib and visiting other historic gurdwaras.

The Sikh jatha returned from Pakistan after 10 days via Attari-Wagah border on Thursday after attending the celebrations of Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary at Nankana Sahib and visiting other historic gurdwaras.

The main event was held on November 5 at Gurdwara Janamasthan Nankana Sahib, some 80 km from Lahore, the place where Guru Nanak was born.

After attending the celebrations of Parkash Purb at Nankana Sahib, the pilgrims visited major Sikh shrines in Pakistan, including Gurdwara Panja Sahib (Hasan Abdal), Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib (Narowal), Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore, and Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Emnabad.

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president and Pakistan Punjab’s minorities minister Ramesh Singh Arora and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Additional Secretary Nasir Mushtaq were among the officials who saw the jatha off at the Wagah border.

On November 4, a total of 1,932 Indian pilgrims left for Pakistan for the pilgrimage. One elderly pilgrim died during the pilgrimage, and his dead body was sent back to India on Tuesday.

Following Operation Sindoor, this is the first jatha that went to Pakistan after the restrictions imposed by India on the travel of its citizens through any of the check posts on the Pakistan border.

The Union government granted permission on October 2, two weeks after initially refusing it due to security concerns. Earlier, Sikhs were also barred from visiting Pakistan for Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary in June.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack, India tightened travel restrictions, barring foreign passport holders from crossing the Attari border. Henceforth, only Indian citizens can travel via this route.

The Nehru-Liaquat Pact of 1950 allows Sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistan’s sacred shrines on four occasions: Baisakhi, Guru Arjan’s martyrdom day, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death anniversary, and Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary.