Despite travel curbs, SGPC readies to send jatha to Nankana Sahib

Even as an uncertainty looms large over travel through the Attari-Wagah land route after the Centre imposed restrictions following the Pahalgam terror attack, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has started preparations for sending a Sikh jatha to Gurdwara Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The SGPC on Thursday said it would be sending a jatha of pilgrims to the gurdwara in November.

Initiating the process to seek visas, it has asked Sikh devotees, who want to visit Nankana Sahib on the occasion, to submit their passports by August 4.

“As in previous years, the SGPC will send a jatha on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s Parkash Gurpurb (birth anniversary) to visit various historical gurdwaras in Pakistan,” said SGPC secretary Partap Singh on Thursday. He said the devotees wishing to visit Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib and other Sikh religious places in Pakistan must submit their passports along with a recommendation from the area SGPC member to the committee’s yatra department by August 4. He said along with their passports, they should also submit a copy of their identity proof.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, the Centre had imposed travel restrictions to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route and suspended all visas, including under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme.

In response, Pakistan too had cancelled all visas issued to Indian nationals, but had exempted the Indian Sikhs for religious visits.

The operations on the Kartarpur corridor connecting the Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan, had also suspended till further orders.

It is pertinent to mention here that the earlier Sikh jathas had not gone on the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and also on martyrdom day of fifth Sikh master Guru Arjan Dev.