The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday objected to the denial of Pakistan visas to half of Sikh devotees. The SGPC had despatched passports of 1,684 pilgrims to the Pakistan embassy at New Delhi. The devotees needed to be a part of the celebration of the Sikh religion’s founder Guru Nanak’s Parkash Gurpurb (beginning anniversary) at his birthplace at Nankana Sahib within the Punjab province of the neighbouring nation.
Out of the 1,684 passports despatched to the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi for visa approval, solely 788 candidates weren’t granted the pilgrimage visa beneath bilateral protocol.
Dhami termed the denial unlucky.
“The SGPC all the time sends the passports as per the quota of Punjab. However it’s unhappy that visas weren’t granted to virtually 50% of the pilgrims. This has harm their sentiments. Governments of each the nations should look into it”, he stated.
“Throughout my Pakistan go to, I raised this concern to the authorities involved there. They assured that they might work for it with utmost sincerity. Sadly, the pilgrims in massive numbers have been denied visas. Quickly, a deputation shall be despatched to the Pakistan embassy in New Delhi to flag the problem,’ he stated.
The jatha of the pilgrims is scheduled to depart for Pakistan on November 25 by means of the Attari-Wagah border. Other than being a part of the celebrations at Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib on November 27, they will even go to numerous different historic gurdwaras throughout their 10-day pilgrimage. They’ll return to India on December 4.
The SGPC sends the biggest group of pilgrims, whereas different small Sikh organisations additionally ship teams. 4 Sikh jathas (a gaggle of pilgrims) go to Pakistan in a 12 months. The most important one heads for Nankana Sahib. One other jatha goes on the harvest competition of Baisakhi which is well known by Sikhs as Khalsa Basis Day in April. Two extra jathas depart in Might-June on the martyrdom anniversary of the primary martyr of the Sikh religion, the fifth grasp Guru Arjan Dev, and the demise anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
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