Pak says no to Indian team’s Nankana Sahib nagar kirtan

NEW DELHI: Pakistan has denied permission for an Indian delegation comprising representatives of the Punjab government and various Sikh bodies to hold ‘nagar kirtan’ at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday.

The delegation, led by the Punjab government and including representatives of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), had planned to organise ‘Akhand Path’ (continuous recitation (without any break) of sacred religious texts) and hold ‘nagar kirtan’ (processional singing of holy hymns) at Nankana Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province as part of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

Pakistan did not grant visas for a 31-member delegation of the Punjab government and another 450 Indian pilgrims even though their applications were recommended by the Indian government to the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi, the people cited above said. Authorities in Pakistan instead decided to give leadership of the group of pilgrims to Paramjit Singh Sarna and this has not been viewed well by the people of India’s Punjab state, they added.

“It is seen as disrespect to the sentiments of the members of the Sikh community who wanted to visit Nankana Sahib on the auspicious occasion to start commemorations of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak from the first week of November,” said a person who declined to be identified.

PAKISTAN DIDN’T GRANT VISAS TO A 31-MEMBER DELEGATION OF PUNJAB GOVT COMPRISING THREE MINISTERS