Visa denial upsets kin of Guru Nanak’s contemporary

GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Nankana Sahib (Pak), August 4

The descendants of Rai Bular Bhatti, a 15th Century Muslim landlord of undivided Punjab and a disciple of Guru Nanak Dev, are a dejected lot for not getting fulfilled their desire to visit the Golden Temple. Their application for furnishing visa formalities was repeatedly rejected by the Indian authorities. 

Rai Saleem Bhatti (41), a lawyer at Lahore High Court and the 19th generation of Rai Bular Bhatti, said till date the visa could not be procured for the reasons best known to the Indian authorities.

SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal confirmed that the programme could not be held due to non-availability of Bhatti family. “We will take up the matter with the Union Home Department for facilitating visa to Bhatti’s descendants,” he said. 

The Bhatti family, despite being devout Muslims, has kept alive their ancestral links with Sikhism for the past several generations.

Rai Saleem Bhatti and his 11-year-old son Rai Waleed Bhatti visited Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib on the occasion of nagar kirtan dedicated to the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

The family still continued the legacy by contributing in every way for the wellbeing of people living in the area. The 16th generation, Rai Bashir Ahmed Bhatti, Rai Hadayat Khan Bhatti played important role in Pakistan politics too. Rai Saleem Bhatti said his cousins Rai Sarvar Khan Bhatti and Rai Ahmad Khan Bhatti’s family had donated 10 acres at Kot Hussan Khan, 5 km from Nankana Sahib, for setting up Nankana Sahib Foundation. The purpose was to generate jobs and revenue for the upkeep of Sikh shrines in Nankana Sahib.  “We desire to get it revived and take up the matter with the Pakistan government,” he said.

His father, Rai Akram Bhatti, also a lawyer, wishes to strengthen Sikh-Muslim cordial ties by conducting Sikh pilgrimage to the holy shrines and invite them to his place. 

“Our family owes my birth due to the blessings of Baba Nanak only. Sikh devotees from any part of the world who visit Nankana Sahib hold special place in our heart and we take it as a divine opportunity to serve them,” he said.

Guru Nanak’s father Mehta Kalu was a munshi at Rai Bular Bhatti’s estate. Rai Bular Bhatti, who owned over 36,000 acres, had donated half of it to Guru Nanak in late 15th century. “Bhatti had donated around 18,750 acres. On some part of the land Gurdwara Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Bal Leela were built. The remaining was leased to locals. The land is now under the control of the Evacuee Property Trust Board, Pakistan,” he said. 

SGPC to honour them 

• The SGPC wants to set up a portrait of Rai Bular Bhatti, a 15th Century Muslim landlord of undivided Punjab and a disciple of Guru Nanak Dev, in the Central Sikh Museum. 
• The programme was scheduled for May 5, 2018, but had to be deferred as Bhatti’s descendants were denied visa. 
• Rai Saleem Bhatti, a lawyer at Lahore High Court and the 19th generation of Rai Bular Bhatti, said till date visa could not be procured for the reasons best known to the Indian authorities.