TAXILA: More than a thousand Indian Sikhs arrived at Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal around midnight on Sunday as part of Nagar Kirtan, a religious procession that was celebrated to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the birth of Baba Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.
The gurdwara was decorated with colored lights and the pilgrims performed various rituals, including Matha Taki, Ashnan and exchanged gifts.
Undersecretary of the Board of Property of Evacuated Trusts (ETPB), Imran Gondal, said that more than 1,100 Sikhs crossed the border through Wagah on October 31 through Ludhiana and Amritsar. He said they visited Gurdwara Janamasthan, Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Sodda Farooqabad and other temples, and the pilgrimage will conclude in Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, where a gold palanquin "Palki Sahib" will be installed.
"Around 1,300 visas issued for Nagar Kirtan are above the quota covered by the 1974 Religious Shrine Visits Protocol between Pakistan and India," he said.
"Sikh pilgrims from India visit Pakistan for religious festivals at least four times a year under the 1974 India-Pakistan protocol on visits to religious shrines, but the denial of visiting Pakistan to participate in religious rituals is not understood despite have valid visas. " he added.
Gondal said the board, in collaboration with the Parkhhand Sikh Gurdwara Committee of Pakistan and the district administration, has made security and accommodation arrangements for the Indian and local Sikh Yatrees.
In statements to the press, several pilgrims praised the government's initiative to open the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate the Sikh community, and praised Prime Minister Imran Khan for laying the first stone of Baba Guru Nanak University in Nankana Sahib and issuing a coin commemorative on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak Dev.
Sarna, former chairman of the Gurdwara Sikh Management Committee in Delhi, praised the opening of the corridor and said it was a long-standing wish of the Sikh community to visit one of its most sacred sites in Pakistan without a visa. He also thanked the government for constructing a new building in Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore.
He said that the Indian Sikhs were grateful to the government for granting them the maximum number of visas and added: "Pakistan is sacred to us and we love it, and we come here with a message of peace and brotherhood."
Pakistan Committee Chairman Gurdwara Parbandhak, Satwant Singh, said that Baba Guru Nanak's teachings revolve around peace and humanity.
He said that the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor was a great gift for the Sikh community, and that Pakistan is a pure land for the Sikhs and a second home for the Sikh community worldwide.
The Attock District Police Officer, Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari, reviewed the security arrangements for the protection of Sikh pilgrims. He told the media that multi-layered security plans have been made to ensure that visiting pilgrims are safe.
"The district police will provide infallible security to the Sikh Yatrees," he said, adding: "Around 700 police officers will perform security duties, including four district superintendents, six inspectors, 11 sub-inspectors, 23 assistant sub-inspectors, 33 police chiefs, 506 police officers, 40 female police officers and civilian officers.
Published on Dawn, November 4, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1514748/1100-indian-sikhs-arrive-at-punja-sahib-in-religious-procession