NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Pakistan has issued 2,942 visas for Indian Sikhs to visit
the gurdwaras in the country during Gurupurab, the birth anniversary celebrations
of the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak. Over 2,500 of them arrived in Pakistan
on Sunday.
The visas have been issued for a period from November 6 to 15. The Sikhs willl
visit Dera Sahib, Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib.
The visas issued by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi are for Sikhs
residing in India. Sikh pilgrims from other countries also visit Pakistan during
the anniversary.
“The issuance of pilgrimage visas to religious pilgrims by the high commission
is in line with the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to fully implement the
bilateral Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines between the two countries,”
the Pakistan High Commission said in a statement.
The 553rd Guru Nanak birth anniversary celebrations will be held at Gurdwara
Nankana Sabib on November 8.
The visas are issued under the India-Pakistan Protocol on Visits to Religious
Shrines of 1974. The protocol states that up to 20 parties each may be allowed
to go to the other country every year. The number could be revised from time
to time.
Last year too 3,000 visas were issued on the 552nd birth anniversary of Guru
Nanak Dev from November 17 to 26. A jatha of around 1,500 pilgrims visited Pakistan
through Atari-Wagah border post. The pilgrims visited Gurdwara Darbar Sahib,
Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib and Gurdwara Sacha Sauda.
Guru Nanak Jayanti is also known as Guru Purab. Guru Nanak is the first Sikh
Guru. The day is celebrated on the full moon day of the Kartik month as per
the Hindu calendar. It is also marked as Kartik Poornima. Last year the day
fell on November 19.
The Kartarpur Corridor, built a couple of years ago, allows Indian pilgrims
visa- free access to a historic gurdwara built at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab
province where Guru Nanak spent the final years of his life. The Kartarpur Corridor
connects the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib (Kartarpur Sahib), near Lahore in Pakistan,
to Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district in the Indian State of Punjab.
