A total of 44 Pakistani Sikh delegates on Monday arrived in India from Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border to visit gurudwaras in Delhi and Amritsar.
“We have arrived from Pakistan’s Peshawar, Sindh and other areas to visit the Gurudwaras of Delhi and Amritsar,” a Pakistani Sikh delegate Harbhajan Singh told ANI.
Another delegate Sardar Karam Singh said, “We are a total of 44 people, and have arrived to visit the Darbar Sahib in Delhi. We are thankful to the Pakistan government for giving us permission to visit India.”
He said that they will be visiting various Gurudwaras including the Amritsar Golden temple. Visuals captured by ANI show Sikh delegates crossing the Attari-Wagah border. They are carrying their luggage and getting their passports checked by security officials.
Recently, Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi issued nearly 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend the week-long birth celebrations of Guru Nanak. Indian Sikh pilgrims visited Dera Sahib, Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib.
Sikh pilgrims, recently, expressed disappointment after the Pakistani authorities rejected 586 visas, out of a total 1496 visas, of Indian Sikhs, wanting to visit the Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.”SGPC had applied for 1496 visas, out of which, 910 were approved but 586 were rejected. The visas are valid for ten days, and those whose visas were rejected, have been disappointed a lot. Government should not reject the religious visa,” said Harbhajan Singh.
“Both governments need to provide the facility of On Arrival Visa. The Visa office must be open at Attari-Wagah Border. The buses which used to run earlier, for the darshan of the Gurdwara of Pakistan were also stopped. That should run again, like the Delhi-Lahore bus. Amritsar Nankana Sahib even the Samjota Exores train has been stopped. We should connect the people of both countries through religious places,” he further stated.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
