Fourteen Indian citizens who were part of a group travelling to Pakistan for Guru Nanak’s 556th birth anniversary celebrations were sent back after Pakistani officials reportedly refused them entry, saying they were Hindus and not Sikhs. The group was on its way to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Sikhism’s founder, when the incident took place.
According to reports, these 14 people were among around 2,100 Indian pilgrims approved by the Union Home Ministry to visit Pakistan for the religious event. Pakistan had issued travel documents for a similar number of visitors.
However, on Tuesday, 4th November, when about 1,900 pilgrims crossed the Wagah border into Pakistan, marking the first such people-to-people contact since Operation Sindoor in May, the 14 Hindu pilgrims were stopped and turned back.
Sources told NDTV that Pakistani officials told them, “You are Hindu… you can’t go with Sikh devotees.” The 14 people, who included residents of Delhi and Lucknow, were reportedly Pakistani-born Sindhis who had later acquired Indian citizenship. They had hoped to visit Pakistan to meet their relatives during the pilgrimage but were instead made to walk back “humiliated,” sources said.
In addition to these 14 pilgrims, around 300 others who had applied for visas independently were also turned back at the Indian side of the border as they did not have official clearance from the Home Ministry.
Those who were allowed to enter Pakistan included a delegation from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee led by Bibi Gurinder Kaur, Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee’s Ravinder Singh Sweeta, and Akal Takht leader Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj. The main religious ceremony is scheduled to take place at Gurdwara Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib, around 80 kilometres from Lahore.
During their 10-day stay, Indian Sikh pilgrims will also visit other major shrines, including Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad, and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.
The development comes amid continuing tensions between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor in May this year. India’s military response to the 22nd April Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians and was linked to Pakistan-sponsored terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
