3,000 Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Pak

PILGRIMS WILL ALSO VISIT GURDWARA JANAM ASTHAN, GURDWARA SACHA SAUDA AND GURDWARA DERA SAHIB BEFORE RETURNING TO AMRITSAR ON APRIL 21

NEWDELHI: Around 3,000 Sikh pilgrims will travel to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border on April 11 to celebrate Baisakhi at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal city of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Manjinder Singh Sirsa said Sikh devotees will leave from New Delhi on April 11 and return on April 21.

Punjab has been allocated maximum quota of 1,800 pilgrims, followed by Delhi with 555, and Haryana with 200 pilgrims. West Bengal has been allocated the minimum of five pilgrims, Bihar 14 and Jammu and Kashmir 40 pilgrims. Baisakhi commemorates the formation of the Khalsa Panth by 10th Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.

Authorities have also asked those who are interested in undertaking a pilgrimage on Baisakhi, to be celebrated on April 13, to deposit their passports with the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee at Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib Complex by February 15.

The pilgrims will celebrate Baisakhi at Gurdwara Panja Sahib on April 13 and 14, after which they will leave for Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, through a special train on April 15 to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Gurdwara Sacha Sauda, and Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore, before returning to Amritsar on April 21.

Each pilgrim is required to pay visa processing fees of ₹200 with four latest passport size photographs and valid identity proof and Indian passport having one-year validity, said the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.

Sirsa added that the required documents will be deposited with the external affairs ministry by February 25, which will then be forwarded to the Pakistan high commission. The pilgrims will be provided the visa after necessary scrutiny by Indian as well as Pakistan agencies, he said.

He said that the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee had borne all expenditures of the Sikh devotees for the Baisakhi Yatra during last three years in commemorations of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.