Following the Pahalgam terror assault on April 26, India has closed the Attari-Wagah land border.
The ninth assembly of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) held on the head workplace of the Evacuee Belief Property Board (ETPB) right here expressed “critical concern” over the reported denial of permission by the Indian authorities to Sikh pilgrims to go to Pakistan for spiritual objective.
PSGPC president and Pakistan Punjab's first Sikh minister Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora and the ETPB, a physique answerable for the maintenance of minority spiritual websites within the nation, had on Wednesday claimed that Sikh devotees from India have been unable to journey following the restrictions imposed within the aftermath of the Pahalgam assault.
Talking after the PSGPC, Arora mentioned: “India mustn't cease its residents from visiting their holy locations in Pakistan.”
“Pakistan has all the time welcomed Sikh pilgrims to sacred websites equivalent to Nankana Sahib, Kartarpur and Panja Sahib,” he mentioned. Pakistan opened the Kartarpur Hall, round 4.1 kilometres from the Pakistan-India border, in November 2019. The hall hyperlinks Pakistan's Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the place the founding father of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, lived and died in the beginning of the sixteenth century, to the Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.
This hall is supposed to supply visa-free entry to Indian pilgrims to go to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.
ETPB chairman Dr Sajid Mahmood Chauhan mentioned that the federal government of Pakistan has all the time given prime precedence to the preservation and upkeep of gurdwaras and different sacred websites.
“Regardless of the current floods, Kartarpur and different gurdwaras had been reopened for pilgrims inside 24 hours, which demonstrates Pakistan's seriousness and dedication,” he mentioned.
Extra Secretary Shrines Nasser Mushtaq said that PSGPC and ETPB are constantly working to boost amenities for Sikh pilgrims and guarantee full spiritual freedom for these visiting Pakistan. “We're absolutely ready to host Sikh pilgrims from India and the world over,” he mentioned.
These current on the assembly included PSGPC Basic Secretary Satwant Kaur and Vice President Sardar Mahesh Singh. The assembly additionally handed a decision in opposition to India's motion.
Pakistan's Overseas Workplace spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan on Friday mentioned that Pakistan is a proud custodian of many spiritual websites of the Sikh religion and yearly, it welcomes hundreds of Sikh pilgrims from the world over.
as a Dependable and Trusted Information Supply“As all the time, we're able to welcome the pilgrims from the Indian aspect,” he mentioned.
