E-Paper
Day after Ministry stops Sikh Jatha from visiting Pak, SGPC chief writes to PM, Shah
SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur said the Centre had hurt Sikh Jatha’s sentiments by not allowing them to go for the week-long pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib
A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs denied permission to a Sikh Jatha to visit Pakistan for the centenary events of the Nankana Sahib massacre, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Bibi Jagir Kaur on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to register her protest. She urged them to reconsider the decision and allow the Sikhs to attend the February 21 event.
In her letter, Bibi Jagir Kaur wrote that the decision of the Government of India had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh sangat. Reminding the PM and home minister that the SGPC had written to them regarding the jatha, as early as January 12, she said, “It is surprising that the Jatha was not permitted to go ahead with the pilgrimage at the last minute.”
The week-long pilgrimage was to start from Thursday and the Home Ministry had conveyed the decision of disallow the Jatha from visiting Pakistan on Wednesday evening. They had cited security concerns as the reason for the decision.
Govt is deliberately harassing us: Pilgrims
Meanwhile, for the 700-odd members of the Sikh Jatha who were to leave for the neighbouring country on Thursday, the news came as a rude shock.
While some pilgrims got the news in time, many others turned up at the SGPC head office at the Golden Temple Complex on Thursday to board the bus that was to take them to Wagah border.
One such pilgrim, Santosh Kumari of Ropar, said her whole family was excited for the pilgrimage. “We came here at 8am today to board the bus but were shocked to hear that the government had denied the entire jatha permission to go Pakistan. We had been preparing for this pilgrimage throughout last month. My family was very enthusiastic about it.”
Sohan Singh, an elderly pilgrim from Sirsa in Haryana, said, “The Union government denied permission at the last moment, citing security issues. But there was no such issue in November last year when a jatha visited Pakistan to celebrate Parkash Gurpurb (birth anniversary) of Guru Nanak. This government is deliberately harassing the Sikhs. It seems the BJP is doing this out of frustration of having lost the civic body polls in Punjab.”
Kashmir Singh, a pilgrim from Chandigarh, said, “Nankana Sahib massacre is a very important chapter in the Indian freedom struggle. After Sikhs got control of this gurdwara following the massacre, Mahatma Gandhi had said that India had won its first battle of the freedom struggle. We were to go to mark this centenary of this battle.”
Meanwhile, Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh shared pictures on Facebook, showing the office-bearers of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), led by president Satwant Singh, and other Pakistani authorities, standing on the other side of the Wagah border with bouquets in their hands to welcome the pilgrims from India.
Take up security issue with Pak instead of cancelling pilgrimage: SAD
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday asked the Centre to take up the issue of the perceived security threat to Sikh devotees, with the Pakistan government instead of arbitrarily denying permission to the jatha which was scheduled to visit Nankana Sahib.
Terming the denial of permission as extremely unfortunate and perplexing, former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said the government’s action had sent a wrong signal and hurt feelings of the Sikh sangat. “We fail to understand what new factors have come into play within days. If the Centre has any input regarding threat to the security of the devotees visiting Pakistan, it should discuss the same with its Pak counterparts,” he said. Cheema said the excuse of denying permission on account of the threat to the health of the pilgrims due to Covid-19 did not hold ground, considering the fact that permission was granted to a jatha to visit Pakistan in November last year.
