Islamabad: Pakistan has welcomed more than 3,000 Sikh pilgrims who have arrived from neighbouring India and the rest of the world to celebrate the 553rd birth anniversary of their religion’s founder, Baba Guru Nanak.
The 10-day (November 6-15) celebrations are being held at different Gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) across Pakistan but the main ceremony is organised in Nankana Sahib district, the birthplace of Baba Guru Nanak, in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Around 3,000 Sikh visitors arrived in Lahore on the weekend from India via the Wagah-Attari border. They were received by the officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) which manages religious places of Sikh and Hindu communities. Pakistan has made all necessary arrangements for the pilgrims who will be provided facilities such as food, lodging transportation, and full security by the government, ETPB officials said.
“Whenever we come to the land of our Guru, we receive massive respect and love from the people of Pakistan,” said Diljeet Singh, a pilgrim from India, while speaking to reporters at the Wagah border.
Pakistan welcomes Sikh pilgrims
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the Sikh pilgrims visiting Pakistan to celebrate the 553rd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. “Baba Guru Nanak’s life and his teachings focus on brotherhood and peace,” he said in his tweet.
Pakistan’s planning minister Ahsan Iqbal visited Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, to welcome the Sikh pilgrims. During his talk with the Sikh visitors, Iqbal emphasized the message of love, harmony, and tolerance in Baba Guru Nanak’s teachings.
Punjab chief minister Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi also felicitated the Sikh community on the occasion and said that his government had provided the best facilities to the Sikh visitors to participate in Guru Nanak’s birthday celebrations and perform religious rituals. He added that the province would pay special attention to the maintenance, renovation, and security of Gurdwaras in the country.
Elahi said that the opening of the Kartarpur corridor was a landmark achievement and a “gift to the Sikh community”. Pakistan opened the visa-free Kartarpur crossing in November 2019 to allow Indian Sikh pilgrims access to one of the holiest sites of their religion, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. The peace corridor has allowed many families in Pakistan and India to reunite after decades.
Pakistan is home to some of the holiest Sikh sites and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is believed to have been built on the site in Pakistan’s Narowal district where Guru Nanak breathed his last in the 16th century.
