India fails to issue visas to devotees

islamabad — Pakistan on Monday expressed disappointment at India’s failure to issue visas to 503 Pakistani devotees wanting to participate in the annual Urs of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif, India, at the end of March.

The visit was to take place under the 1974 Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines and is a regular annual feature but Pakistani devotees have been deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Urs, which is of special significance, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office here.

The statement recalled, “In January Pakistani devotees could not participate in the Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia (RA) in Delhi due to non-issuance of visas by India. “During 2017, despite Pakistan’s offer to send a special train, Indian delays had resulted in Sikh Yatrees (devotees) from India, being unable to participate in the death anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

“Similarly, in February the Government of Pakistan had made all the arrangements for the visit of 173 Katas Raj devotees, who were forced to withdraw their applications from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi due to non-issuance of necessary clearance by the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

“Besides being violative of the bilateral Protocol of 1974 and the basic human right to religious freedom, such measures also undermine the efforts, aimed at improving the environment, increasing people-to-people contacts and normalising relations between the two countries,” it said.

“It is again ironic that this was done on the occasion of Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti (RA) who has for centuries been the symbol of bringing communities closer to each other”, it added.

With important religious sites of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims located on both sides of the heavily militarised Indo-Pak border, the two neighbouring countries have traditionally allowed religious pilgrims to make their spiritual journeys to the other side. However, worsening relations have meant these travels have been more difficult for prospective pilgrims in recent times.

The shrine of Chishti — considered to be among the holiest Muslim shrines in India — holds great significance for the followers of the 12th century saint residing in Pakistan. Former president Asif Ali Zardari had donated a million dollars to the shrine on behalf of the people and the government of Pakistan upon his visit to Ajmer in 2012.

Every year, around 500 Pakistani devotees attend the Urs of the saint — also known as ‘Gharib Nawaz’, or the patron of the poor — who introduced the Afghan-origin Chishti order, which preaches love and tolerance, to Punjab and Rajasthan. — APP

In January Pakistani devotees could not participate in the Urs of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi due to non-issuance of visas by India Foreign Office