Over 2,500 Sikhs from India arrived in Pakistan on Sunday amid tight security to take part in the festivities in connection with the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion.
Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) additional secretary Rana Shahid and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parphandhik Committee president Amir Singh and other officials greeted the pilgrims at the Wagah border where they crossed into Pakistan on foot.
"Over 2,500 Sikhs from India arrived here to attend Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary on Sunday. They were later transported to Nankana Sahib, some 80 km from Lahore, at the Gurdwaras Janamasthan, by train," ETPB spokesperson Amir Hashmi told PTI.
ETPB is a statutory board that manages religious properties and shrines of Hindus and Sikhs who had migrated to India following the partition.
Hashmi said strict security arrangements have been made for the pilgrims and the main event will be held at Gurdwara Janamasthan on November 8.
He said the Sikh pilgrims during their stay will also visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Gurdwara Panja Sahib Hasan Abdal and Gurdwara Dera Sahib Lahore before leaving for their homeland on November 15.
At Wagah, Sikh leaders Manjit Singh, Pareet Singh and Jeet Singh told reporters that Sikhs love to visit their holy places in Pakistan and they also receive love from the people across the border.
They demanded that the people-to-people contacts be strengthened and called for ease of the visa process.
India and Pakistan signed a pact in 2019 to open a land corridor between the two countries that will allow Indian pilgrims to visit Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Kartarpur, in Narowal district of Pakistan.
The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province, facilitating visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims who just need a permit to cross over to Pakistan.
Published 06 November 2022, 15:57 IST